A new prototype sensor is capable of detecting errors in MRI scans using laser light and gas. The new sensor can thereby do what is impossible for current electrical sensors -- and hopefully pave the way for MRI scans that are better, cheaper and faster.
Hvidovre Hospital has the world's first prototype of a sensor capable of detecting errors in MRI scans using laser light and gas. The new sensor, developed by a young researcher at the University of Copenhagen and Hvidovre Hospital, can thereby do what is impossible for current electrical sensors -- and hopefully pave the way for MRI scans that are better, cheaper and faster.
There are also special scanning methods, which unfortunately cannot be done in practice today. Among them, so-called spiral sequences that could reduce scanning time, e.g., when diagnosing blood clots, sclerosis and tumors. Spiral sequences would also be an attractive tool in MRI research, where, among other things, they could provide researchers and health professionals with new knowledge about brain diseases.
"An MRI scanner can already produce incredible images if one takes their time. But with the help of my sensor, it is imaginable to use the same amount of time to produce even better imagery -- or spend less time and still get the same quality as today. A third scenario could be to build a cheaper scanner that, despite a few errors, could still deliver decent image quality with the help of my sensor," says the researcher.
As disturbances in an MRI scanner's ultra-powerful magnetic field occur, Hans Stærkind's prototype maps where in the magnetic field they are occurring and by what strength the field has changed. In the near future, this could mean that disturbed and faulty images could be corrected -- based on the data collected by the sensors, and subsequently made accurate and entirely usable.
According to Stærkind, the immediate target group for his sensor are MRI research units. But he also hopes that one of the large MRI manufacturers finds out about the new technology, in the slightly longer term. Within an MRI scanner, there are a number of other electromagnets that can be used to control the magnetic field, so that you can look into specific parts of the body and do so from different angles.
Laser light inside the sensors with certain light frequencies passes through a small glass container with cesium gas.
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