Clearer RM images

2002/06/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Kimika

A group of Italian chemists have concluded that sharper images can be obtained by investigating the chemical agents used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

But what is the essence of MRI? The patient is injected into the blood a chemical agent, gadolinium, which will be fixed in damaged tissues, and then the affected area will radiate by radio waves (these injected substances are ejected along with urine from the body).

Radio waves have the ability to excite water molecules and then, when they return to their normal state, they emit light. This light will receive the image at the time of performing the MRI. Gadolinium is used to improve image resolution as soon as water molecules return to normal state. Because this chemical accumulates in damaged tissues, this is the most visible medium in the image.

Silvio Aime, from the University of Turin, and his team, have surrounded gadolinium atoms with a complex apoferritin protein and have seen how image resolution has greatly improved.

However, it remains to be seen how apoferritin is dispersed in the body.