Basic notions of MRI in neurosciences

Abstract

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) was originally a field of Physics, which overflowed into Chemistry, Biochemistry and Medicine. Several Nobel prizes have been won in this field. In the prehistory of NMR Isidor Rabi won the prize in Physics in 1944, because of his work on a resonance method for the registration of the magnetic properties of atomic nuclei. Then, in 1952 Felix Bloch and Edward Purcell won the prize in Physics for the discovery of nuclear magnetic resonance in solids. Finally, in 1991 Richard Ernst won the prize in Chemistry for his contributions to the development of the methodology of high resolution nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. There is only one Nobel missing for NMR and it is in Medicine. But that does not say anything about the importance of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), only that it was developed by collaborative work and that it is impossible to single out one or two names from the hundreds of brilliant scientists and engineers responsible for the present state of MRI. The ideas are fascinating and the technology is fantastic, but it was built step by step.