An international team of physicists and neuroscientists has reported a breakthrough in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that generates brain scans more than seven times faster than currently possible. The improvements allow full 3D brain scans in less than half a second, instead of the typical 2 to 3 seconds.
For neuroscience in particular, fast scans are critical for capturing the dynamic activity in the brain. The faster scans are made possible by combining two technical improvements invented in the past decade that separately boosted scanning speeds two to four times over what was already the fastest MRI technique, echo planar imaging (EPI). Physical limitations of each method prevented further speed improvements, "but together their image accelerations are multiplied," said David Feinberg, a physicist and adjunct professor in UC Berkeley's Helen Wills Neuroscience institute.
Because the technique works on all modern MRI scanners, the impact of the ultrafast imaging technique could be immediate and widespread at research institutions worldwide.
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