Low-Field & Novel Imaging (Introduction)

The introduction of ultrahigh-field MRI enabled spatial resolution on scales never seen before, opening the door to a number of applications requiring such exquisite resolution. In many cases, though, lower spatial resolutions are entirely sufficient for the tasks at hand. Here, instead, the applications would benefit from improvements in other areas—improvements in, for example, portability or cost.

Over the past decade or so, Center researchers have sought to address these other needs, in large part by designing and building low-field MRI scanners, or even technologies that move entirely beyond the need for magnetic fields in imaging anatomical structure—novel technologies affectionately described as “no-field” imaging.

The researchers have recently described remarkable achievements in each of these areas. Sometimes, it seems, less is indeed more.