Ultrahigh-Field Imaging (Introduction)

One of the principal components of magnetic resonance imaging is the strength of the magnetic field generated by the scanner: the stronger the field, the greater the signal-to-noise ratio the scanner can achieve. Higher field strength translates either to greater detail in the images acquired or to faster scanning times. But reaching higher field strengths involves more than just building a bigger magnet; it requires considerable engineering and physics knowhow and no small amount of ingenuity and persistence—all of which are available in abundance at the Martinos Center.

Even as Martinos researchers were developing the techniques used for functional MRI, others in the Center were advancing the hardware underlying MRI generally. In the late 1990s, scanners operating at 3 Tesla were considered high field (Tesla [T] is the unit of measurement used for magnetic flux density). Beginning in 1998, though, in collaboration with industry partners Siemens Medical Solutions, Center investigators started developing a 7T scanner. Launched several years later, the scanner would enable significant leaps forward in our understandings of human biology, and inspire even greater improvements in MRI technology.