MRI History

Who discovered magnetite

Magnes about 4000 years ago

magnetite atomic compound

Fe3O4

William Gilbert

coined the word “electricity”, first realized that the Earth was a giant

magnet, that magnets could be made by contact with lodestones or beating wrought iron. He also discovered that heating resulted in the loss of induced magnetism. 1600

(Jean Baptiste) Joseph Fourier

developed a mathematical equation to analyze the heat transfer between solid bodies. This would later become the basis for the rapid processing of phase and frequency signals in MRI

Hans Christian Oersted

discovered an electric current could produce a magnetic field in 1820

Michael Faraday

He discovered that when a magnet was moved inside a coil of copper wire, a tiny electric current flows through the wire (Faraday’s law). Faraday was able to prove that these magnetic fields generated were lines of force. 1845

James Clerk Maxwell

concept of the electromagnetic field. Maxwell’s equations describe how electric and magnetic fields are generated and altered by each other and by charges and currents 1861-1862

Nikola Tesla

discovered the first rotating magnetic field.

Sir Joseph Larmor

developed equation showing precession of nuclear spins being proportional to magnetic field strength (Larmor Equation) 1920s

Isidor Isaac Rabi

1930s, detected and measured single states of rotation of atoms and molecules, determining the magnetic moments of the nuclei

Linus Pauling and Charles D. Coryell

discover that the magnetic state of hemoglobin changes with its state of oxygenation. 1936

Felix Bloch

1946, nucleus behaves like a magnet. He realized that a charged particle, such as a proton, spinning around its own axis has a magnetic field, known as a magnetic momentum.

NMR spectrometers were introduced when

1960

spectrometry

used to analyze the molecular configuration of material based on its NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectrum

Bloembergen, Purcell, Pound

publish a paper on "nuclear magnetic relaxation." 1948

Torrey, Hahn

develop pulsed NMR independently of each other, 1948

Erwin Hahn

discovered the spin echo phenomenon for nuclear magnetic resonance measurements. 1949

Felix Bloch, Edward Purcell

invention of equipment which could measure the magnetic resonance in such material as solids and fluids, were honored with the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1952.

Richard Ernst and Weston Anderson

apply Fourier analysis to pulse signals to increase the sensitivity of nuclear magnetic

resonance. 1960s

Daymond Damadian discovered

that malignant tissue had different NMR parameters than normal tissue. based on these differences, it should be possible to do tissue characterization. late 1960s

first NMR image of rat tumor

1974, Damadian

Indomitable

Damadian, first super-conducting NMR scanner, 1977

first image of the human body

5 hours to scan, 1977, Damadian

Raymond Damadian

used an NMR device, showing that there are different T1 relaxation times between normal and abnormal tissues, in addition to displaying different tissue types. described differences in NMR signals between cancerous tumors and normal tissues in rats. 1971

Paul Lauterbur

described a new imaging technique termed Zeugmatography. couples the gradient idea to the CT scanner idea of multiple projections and reconstruction to obtain the first magnetic resonance image (MRI). 1972/1973

Peter Mansfield

further developed the use of gradients in the magnetic field

and the mathematical analysis of MR signal for a useful imaging technique. 1970s

Paul Lauterbur and Peter Mansfield

awarded with the 2003 Nobel Prize in Medicine.

first human image

a finger, 1976 Sir Mansfield

Richard Ernst

introduced 2D NMR using phase and frequency encoding, and the Fourier Transform in 1975, he timely switched magnetic field gradients

Early whole body images could be presented when

1977/1978, could also do some thorax images, Mansfield and Maudsley

first human MRI scan

1977

FONAR Corporation

Damadian’s company manufactured the first commercial MRI scanner in 1980.

RARE

1986, (rapid acquisition with relaxation enhancement) imaging

Haase, Frahm, Matthaei, Haenicke, and Merboldt

developed FLASH (fast low angle shot) sequence.

1988

MAGNEVIST IV Gadolinium contrast gets the first approval by the FDA

fMRI (functional MRI) made when

1991-1992,

Ogawa

1990, detects variations in local tissue oxygenation using blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) contrast.

Belliveau, Bandettini, and Ogawa

1992, independently publish studies using functional MRI to determine the brain's response to sensory stimulation