MRI scan is a wonder created by modern medical scientists. It is a cusp between technology and medicine and is created by technological scientists to find out abnormalities in the body which CT-Scans and ultrasounds cannot show. Its use has become very popular nowadays, the reason being that many things in the human body that are going wrong or any abnormality that has been developed is detected by this piece of machinery.
What is MRI and how does it work
MRI stands for magnetic resonance imagining. The name alone tells us that magnetic fields and nuclear radiations are used to collect internal images of desired parts of the body.
This gives detailed images of the body and can detect even the smallest of faults. The images generated by MRI are achieved by the combined use of strong magnetic fields and radio waves. It can help see body parts which are nearly impossible to detect by other machines such as joints, muscles, ligaments, and tendons. As all these parts are present in making our entire body intact, there are a number of injuries and abnormalities which MRI scans can show.
The MRI is of course very strong as it can detect the tiniest details but what makes it so great compared to other machines, for example, x-ray and CT-Scans is that there is no risk involved of being exposed to radioactive rays.
How is the entire process carried
The person who wants an MRI scan is placed on a movable table which is slid in a doughnut-shaped machine which has an opening to scan a specific part of the body. The machine will automatically generate magnetic fields and radioactive rays to capture an image.
The process sounds terrifying but the person will not feel any of the radioactive rays or magnetic fields making the entire process painless just like other scans. What can be a concern is the loud thumping noises made by the machine and can sound similar to a sledgehammer. For this reason, people are often provided by headphones to listen to music to avoid the unpleasant noise. There are also many instructions given by the technician during the scan.
People who are claustrophobic or young children are often sedated so that they can fall asleep and do not move as it is required to keep as still as possible because movements can blur images and can cause to repeat the entire procedure. Some hospitals also have open MRI machines which are not confined from the sides and is for people who have a problem and are afraid of confined spaces.
A human body is made of H2O molecules, the magnetic fields can align those molecules. It uses strong magnetic fields similar to that of a fridge magnet which aligns the proton “spins”. The protons absorb their energy and flip their spins, when this process is done the protons return to their normal spinning which produces radio waves which are measured by the machine creating an image.
Uses and benefits of MRI machines
Many sports injuries can be shown by MRI scans and other things like strokes, tumors, and seizures are also detected by MRI scans. It is also used for various brain examinations to look at the brain functioning and processing and is even used in many psychological experiments to make new discoveries.
