Now this is cool.
According to research published Jan. 13 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, IBM‘s research scientists, in collaboration with the Center for Probing the Nanoscale at Stanford University, have developed an MRI with a volume resolution 100 million times finer than conventional MRI. Yes, you read it right, “100 million times finer”.
“By extending MRI to more fine resolution, the scientists have created a microscope that, with further development, may ultimately be powerful enough to unravel the structure and interactions of proteins, paving the way for personalized healthcare and targeted medicine. The achievement stands to impact the study of materials—from proteins to integrated circuits—for which a detailed understanding of atomic structure is essential. ”
So how is this made possible?, will the technique used is call MR force microscopy (MRFM), which relies on detecting ultrasmall magnetic forces. In addition to its high resolution, the researchers said that imaging technique has the further advantages that it is chemically specific, can “see” below surfaces and, unlike electron microscopy, is non-destructive to sensitive biological materials.
More details of this ground breaking technology can be read here.
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