Technology
MRI Imaging: Artificial Intelligence Improves Performance
AI may soon reduce the amount of time you spend in a magnetic resonance imaging scanner.
MRI scanners allow us, health professionals to peer into your body. Cross-sectional images of your brain, breast, knee, shoulder, or other body structure. We can see ligaments and tendons in your knee, or spy cancer in a dense breast.
I had a benign brain tumor, and MRI proved invaluable in defining the target for the neurosurgeon. But, MRI can be uncomfortable. For my brain MRI, if I open my eyes, I feel like I am in a coffin. For a breast study, a woman has her arms overhead for twenty minutes or more.
Before we get into how scientists are using artificial intelligence/machine learning to shorten the MRI examination time, I want to chat about magnetic resonance imaging basics.
How does an MRI make images?
MRI scans use extraordinarily strong magnets to make a strong magnetic field that forces protons in your cells to align with that field. When the machine then pulses a radio-frequency…