The world’s most powerful MRI machine shows surprising new images of the human brain; LOOK

On Tuesday (2), the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) revealed the first images of the human brain captured by the most powerful magnetic resonance imaging device in the world. According to project leaders, the scanner has achieved an unprecedented degree of accuracy, which could be crucial for detecting diseases.

In 2021, researchers used the equipment for the first time to scan a pumpkin. Recently, the use of the device in humans was approved by health authorities.

Over the past few months, approximately 20 healthy volunteers have volunteered to have their brains scanned. The equipment is located in a laboratory in Saclay, a city south of Paris.

“We saw a level of precision never before achieved in CEA,” said Alexandre Vignaud, a physicist working on the project.
The magnetic field created by the scanner is 11.7 tesla. This power allows the machine to scan images that are 10 times more precise than devices normally used in hospitals – whose power generally does not exceed three teslas.

On a computer screen, Vignaud compared images taken by this powerful scanner, nicknamed Iseult, with images from a normal MRI.

“With this machine we can see the small vessels that feed the cerebral cortex, or details of the brain that were almost invisible until now”, he details.

Axial view of the brain, under the same acquisition time, but with different magnetic field intensities. — Photo: Reproduction/French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA)

Machine structure

The equipment is made up of a cylinder five meters high and five meters wide. Inside this cylinder is a 132-ton magnet, powered by a 1,500-amp coil. The patient entrance is 90 centimeters wide.

This device is the result of twenty years of collaborative research between engineers from France and Germany.

Currently, the United States and South Korea are developing MRI machines of similar power, but have not yet begun digitizing human images.

One of the main purposes of this project is to deepen the understanding of brain anatomy and understand which areas are activated when performing certain tasks.

It has been demonstrated by scientists, through the use of MRI scanners, that when the brain identifies specific things, such as faces, places or words, two areas of the cerebral cortex are activated.

The power of 11.7 teslas will help Iseult “better understand the relationship between the structure of the brain and cognitive functions, for example, when we read a book or perform a mental calculation”, said Nicolas Boulant, scientific director of the project.

Brain image scanned by the Iseult project. — Photo: Reproduction/French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA)

With information from G1