Certain structures and processes in the brain can now be imaged with much more precision. This allows using more powerful coils, in particular a special head coil, and various state-of-the-art acceleration procedures for acquiring images. In addition, the scanner now has 64 receiving channels instead of 48. This is important when examining the so-called sodium-potassium pump, a membrane protein with an essential function in the nervous system. To this end, the device was outfitted with a new receiving coil, which facilitates detecting sodium signals in addition to the usual hydrogen signals. “But as the device got older, it couldn’t quite keep up with the most current models,” explains Matthias Günther, deputy director of MEVIS. This has helped enable improved compensation for the movements of certain organs such as the heart and liver and allow blood flow measurement without contrast agents. The MEVIS team has direct access to the scanner’s operating software and can control individual components of the tomograph with custom software. To generate and evaluate these sequences, the institute obtained its own scanner in 2011. The experts are continually programming new, improved control software, so-called MRI sequences. For many years, Fraunhofer MEVIS has been improving MRI scans and expanding their capabilities. An MRI scanner can also track essential body processes, such as the flow of blood through the vascular system. Using a strong magnetic field and precise radio waves, tissue and organs can be shown in a highly differentiated manner. It facilitates patient-friendly 3D images of the inside of the body. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is one of the most important procedures in medical diagnostics.
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