Introduction to the basics of MRI

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an imaging technique used primarily in medical settings to produce high quality images of the inside of the human body. MRI is based on the principles of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), a spectroscopic technique used by scientists to obtain microscopic chemical and physical information about molecules.

MRI started out as a tomographic imaging technique, that is it produced an image of the NMR signal in a thin slice through the human body. MRI has advanced beyond a tomographic imaging technique to a volume imaging technique. This package presents a comprehensive picture of the basic principles of MRI.

In 2005, there were approximately 10,000 MRI units worldwide, and approximately 75 million MRI scans per year performed. As the field of MRI continues to grow, so do the opportunities in MRI.

Currently, there are approximately six major clinical MRI original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). In addition to these clinical OEMs, there are two major experimental MRI OEMs. Other MRI related subsystem manufacturers include RF coil, contrast agents, compatible devices, RF amps, magnets and MRI filters in which Filcoil is the leading manufacture.

The human body is primarily fat and water. Fat and water have many hydrogen atoms which make the human body approximately 63% hydrogen atoms. Hydrogen nuclei have an NMR signal. For these reasons magnetic resonance imaging primarily images the NMR signal from the hydrogen nuclei.