New materials promise safer, faster MRI scans »

ANU scientists are part of a group that has found a way to increase the resolution of MRI scanners, while at the same time making the procedure quicker and safer for the patient. The international group of researchers placed ultrathin metallic resonators under the patient inside an MRI machine and increased the efficiency and quality of the scanning process. "This research may evolve into a new and very practical device that enhances MRI imaging and scanning time," said Professor Yuri Kivshar, from the Australian National University (ANU). "It does not require any intervention into the hardware of the MRI scanner, but rather is an inexpensive add-on device that can be used with any existing MRI scanner," said Professor Kivshar, head of the Nonlinear Physics Centre in the ANU Research School of Physics and Engineering. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is one of the most sensitive modern diagnostic tools and can be used for imaging cancers, spinal areas or brain function. Because MRI uses magnetic fields instead of the ionizing radiation in X-rays and CT scans it is much less damaging to the patient. However new high-field and ultra-high-field MRI scanners can heat the tissue of patients due to an increase of the radiofrequency energy absorption.