My first reaction when I read this article was “9.4T! Why would you need 9.4T!”
Accordingly to this article at ImagingEconomics.com, the University of Illinois at Chicago(UIC) recently installed a new 9.4T MR imaging unit, the most powerful MRI device intended for human use in the world. Although FDAcurrently sets the limit for human imaging at 8T, researchers at UIC are hoping to prove both the safety and efficacy of the 9.4T field strength.
So what is the 9.4T scanner is capable of? Apparently it is capable of imaging a wide range of elements – including carbon, sodium, phosphorous, oxygen and nitrogen (This distinguishes it from its peers with lower field strengths, which can only image the hydrogen nucleus)
Metabolic imaging, which would be possible with the 9.4T scanner, has the potential to predict disease as The unit could image sodium as a measure of tissue viability, enabling assessment of effectiveness of treatment; it could also measure oxygen consumption in cells, monitor glucose metabolism in the brain and visualize phosphorus metabolism in cells’ bioenergetic pathways.
Technology, don’t you just love it 🙂
BinaryHealthCare (BNHC) 