Five meters wide and five meters in diameter, almost twice the size of the devices currently in operation, its magnetic field is unprecedented: it has a power of 11.7 tesla. By way of comparison, scanners in operation today have a maximum of 3 teslas.
According to the CEA’s research director, Nicolas Boulant, thanks to this immense magnetic field it is possible to take images of the human brain with never-before-seen precision in just four minutes. In the mapping carried out by Iseult, even the veins of the cortex can be observed.
Investment of €70 million
The newspaper Le Figaro highlights that the project is the result of a partnership between France and Germany. In total, there were 25 years of joint work between science and industry, with an investment of €70 million.
With the discovery, researchers now hope to detect the hippocampal atrophies that characterize Alzheimer’s disease, for example. Additionally, Iseult also has the ability to visualize neurons in real time, which could help shed light on various psychiatric conditions and neurodegenerative diseases.
The newspaper Le Parisien highlights that, with the revolutionary technology, researchers also hope to better understand how the brain works during everyday activities, such as reading a book, for example.
