2023-04-18 18:08:49
The brain of a mammal has never been observed in such detail! American scientists have developed a high-performance MRI 64 million times more accurate than current devices. It has made it possible to map the entire brain of a mouse with a resolution of the order of a micrometer.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging test that analyzes soft tissues such as the brain, heart or lungs. Thanks to it, doctors can detect anomalies such as cancers, but the resolution of current MRIs does not make it possible to observe smaller details, of the order of a micron.
The scientists of Duke’s Center for In Vivo Microscopy, attached to the University of Tennessee in the United States, have designed an MRI capable of providing images with a resolution 64 million times finer than conventional MRIs. Used to immortalize a mouse brain, each voxel (the 3D equivalent of a pixel) in the image corresponds to a 5 micron area of the brain.
A resolution of the order of a micron
This technical feat was made possible by the use of an incredibly powerful magnet, regarding 100 times stronger than the magnets contained in current MRIs, and a computer that has the computing power of 800 laptops combined.
The scientists were thus able to map all the neural connections present in the small brain of a mouse. Eventually, they hope to be able to advance research on neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s thanks to this powerful new tool.
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