The world's most powerful medical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine at the University of Illinois at Chicago has passed safety tests and will soon offer doctors a real-time view of biological processes in the human brain. The MRI, called the 9.4 Tesla (9.4T), will allow physicians to observe metabolic processes in real time.
Oncologists could tailor radiation therapy based on a brain tumor's real-time response to treatment. Currently, doctors must wait weeks to see if a tumor is shrinking from therapy. With the new MRI, they will be able to see if individual cells within the tumor are dying long before the tumor starts to shrink.
The 9.4T magnet has a field strength more than three times that of currently available clinical units. It is the first device large enough to scan the head and visualize the human brain. Current MRI visualizes water molecules to track biochemical processes. By visualizing the sodium ions involved in those processes instead, the 9.4T lets researchers follow one of the most important energy-consuming processes in the cellular machinery of the brain.
