The most powerful magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner in the world has managed to scan the brain with a level of precision never seen before, its managers in France announced, a feat that could be decisive in detecting diseases.
Researchers from the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) first used the machine to scan a pumpkin in 2021.
Recently, health authorities gave the green light to scan humans.
Over the past few months, around 20 healthy volunteers have volunteered to have their brains scanned in Saclay, a suburb south of Paris.
“We saw a level of precision never before achieved in CEA,” said Alexandre Vignaud, a physicist working on the project.
The magnetic field created by the scanner is 11.7 teslas, a unit of measurement named after inventor Nikola Tesla.
This power allows the machine to scan images that are 10 times more precise than the MRIs normally used in hospitals, whose power generally does not exceed three teslas.
On a computer screen, Vignaud compared images taken by this powerful scanner, nicknamed Iseult, with those from a normal MRI.
“With this machine we can see the small vessels that feed the cerebral cortex, or details of the brain that were almost invisible until now,” he said.
– A 132-ton magnet –
The machine consists of a cylinder measuring five meters wide and five meters high, inside which there is a 132-ton magnet powered by a 1,500 amp coil.
The entrance is 90 centimeters wide, through which the patient slides.
The design is the result of two decades of research by a partnership between French and German engineers.
The United States and South Korea are working on similarly powerful MRI machines, but have not yet begun scanning images of humans.
One of the main goals is to multiply our understanding of the anatomy of the brain and which areas are activated when performing particular tasks.
Scientists have already used MRI scanners to demonstrate that when the brain recognizes particular things, such as faces, places or words, two regions of the cerebral cortex are activated.
The 11.7 Tesla power will help Iseult “better understand the relationship between brain structure and cognitive functions, for example when we read a book or perform a mental calculation,” said Nicolas Boulant, the project’s scientific director.
– In the wake of Alzheimer’s –
The researchers hope that the power of the scanner will also shed light on the hidden mechanisms behind neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s, or psychological problems such as depression or schizophrenia.
“For example, we know that a specific area of the brain, the hippocampus, is involved in Alzheimer’s disease, so we hope to be able to discover how cells in this part of the cerebral cortex work,” said CEA researcher Anne-Isabelle Etienvre.
Scientists also hope to map how certain medications used to treat bipolar disorder, such as lithium, are distributed throughout the brain.
The strong magnetic field created by MRI can help elucidate which parts of the brain are influenced by lithium. This could help identify which patients will respond better or worse to the drug.
“If we can better understand these very harmful diseases, we can diagnose them earlier and therefore treat them better,” said Etienvre.
For now, Iseult will not be used on real patients for several years.
The machine “is not intended to become a clinical diagnostic tool, but we hope that the knowledge gained can be used in hospitals,” Boulant explained.
A new group of volunteers will be recruited in the coming months to have their brains scanned.
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