Strongest MRI scanner worldwide built in Radboud
Over the next three years, Radboud University will be hard at work building the strongest MRI scanner worldwide. Where normal scanners have a magnetic strength of up to 3 tesla, this strong scanner has 14 tesla. At the moment, the best MRI scanners can be found in Paris and Maryland. These scanners have a strength of 11.7 tesla.
The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research – NWO for short – has released 19 million euros to make Radboud the mecca of the MRI.
What is an MRI Scanner?
MRI is an abbreviation for Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Using magnetic fields and radio waves, the MRI scanner is able to make images of the body. Organs, blood vessels, bones, muscles, tendons and nerves, among other things, can be properly assessed in this way. With this scan, there are no X-rays. This is the case with a CT scan.
Below is shown how an MRI scanner works exactly. This video is in English.
Why Nijmegen?
The entire MRI sector is busy building the new and world’s strongest scanner. In the Netherlands, there are currently scanners with 7 tesla in Amsterdam, Leiden and Utrecht. In Maastricht there is a scanner with 9.4 Tesla. Although the new scanner will be placed on the Radboud university medical center in Nijmegen, it is available to all scientists in our country. Nijmegen was chosen because this is the place where the Donders Institute for brain research is located.
What are the advantages of the new MRI scanner?
With a powerful scanner at 14 tesla, for example, the brain is imaged in even greater detail. This makes individual layers visible. In addition, research into brain disorders will also benefit from MRI. Projects with the following brain disorders, among others, will gain more knowledge thanks to this development: Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, psychiatric disorders, vascular brain disorders and dementia.
