-Skeleton Outline, List of media, and key image with citation
- Introduction of the team: Erika Mabry, Cameron Wills, Elizabeth Davis
- Topic to be covered: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
- History of the MRI: The MRI has changed the work of medicine to what we know it as today. It has provided life-changing and life-altering diagnosis to ensure the best medical care and attention possible. Before we had the Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Professor Wilhelm Rontgen discovered the machine we know has the x-ray. The x-ray, in simple terms, is a picture taken of the inside of something, usually a body, using high energy electromagnetic radiation with short wavelengths that can pass through items. If you have ever broken a bone, you more than likely have had an X-ray machine used. Rontgen, who was a professor in Germany, observed a fluorescent glow of crystals on a table near his cathode- ray tube. This caught the attention of scientists all over the world and eventually was used on battlefields with physicians to locate the bullets in wounded soldiers. After the discovery of the x-ray, ultrasounds seemed to be the next best thing in the medicine world. Ultrasounds were discovered to assist in the field of medicine to witness the imaging of blood flow in the heart. Though both machines were critical in the medical world at the time, none were able to look inside the body with even making a scratch. Thankfully, this led to what we know as the Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technique, also known as the MRI. In 1974, a man named Raymond Damadian received a patent for his Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technique. Three years later, in
- 1977 the full-body MRI as we now know it came to fruition after extensive research by American Dr. Raymond Damadian, which he called the “Indomitable”. Unfortunately, Damadian’s design was extremely slow and leaked excessive amounts of very expensive chemicals. For those reasons, Damadian’s design was deemed ineffective for clinical use. British scientist Peter Mansfield refined previous findings and developed them into the rapid imaging we’re familiar with in modern medicine.
- How it works: MRIs use a powerful magnet that is strong enough to produce a magnetic field that forces protons in the body. When a radiofrequency current goes through the patient, the protons are stimulated which allows straining against the pull of the magnetic field out of the equilibrium, which strains against the pull of the overall magnetic field. When that specific field is turned off, the MRI has sensors that can detect the specific energy that is released. During this, the protons will realign with the magnetic field. The time and energy that this takes for the protons to realign and reg energy released depends on one thing. The environment and the overall chemical nature of the molecule. In order to safely secure an image from the MRI scanner, the patient is placed inside a large magnetic tube-like object. The patient must remain completely still, or the imaging process will be disrupted, and the image will be blurred.
- Why would you need an MRI?[1]
MRI assists in diagnosing problems with
Brain, spinal cord, muscles, and liver
Female reproductive organs
Broken bones in hip and pelvis
Joints
Bleedings or infections
- A Brief History of Raymond Damadian: Raymond Damadian was born March 16, 1936, in New York City, NY. After earning his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin- Madison in 1956, along with his M.D degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1960, he met his wife Donna Terry and married her once he completed medical school. After having three kids, he became interested in detecting cancer when remembering his grandmother, who died a slow and painful death of breast cancer. After years of extensive trial and error, he performed the first full-body scan of a human being in 1977 to diagnose cancer.
- Awards: Damadian received the National Medal of Technology in 1988 and eventually inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. His original “Indomitable” was donated to the Smithsonian Institution and the 80s and now is on display at the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Ohio. 2003, he was honored with an Innovation Award in Bioscience from The Economist”.
- Nobel Prize controversy:
On October 6, 2003, the Nobel Committee announced that Paul C Lauterbur and Sir Peter Mansfield were awarded the Prize for their work on the development of the MRI.[2] Dr. Damadian was excluded. The committee’s exclusion of Damadian appeared to be due to his contributions were not worthy of a prize. Damadian quotes “I made the original contribution and made the first patent. If people want to reconsider history apart from the facts, there’s not much that I can do about that.[3]”
- Impacts on society: Allowed for whole-body imaging, opened a slew of diagnostic and subsequent clinical treatment options. This type of image advancement allowed physicians to assess sensitive soft tissues, such as the brain and spinal cord, that otherwise would not have been able to study as closely. This allowed for the patient and clinician team to make treatment plans together. While there is no risk for exposure to radiation through this form of medical imaging, there are risks of an allergic reaction to dye should a contrast be needed, and the testing is not recommended for patients suffering from epilepsy.[4]
- The main magnet in an MRI can create a magnetic field that is one to four thousand times stronger than the earth’s magnetic field.
- The magnets used in MRI scanners must be cooled to a temperature of absolute zero. This cooling is typically done with liquid hydrogen.
- MRI scans are often used to identify tumors or bone fractures that are too small for an x-ray. MRI scans are ideal for orthopedic, neurological, and vascular imaging, but can be used for other diagnoses as well.
- Unlike X-ray or CT scans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging does not use ionizing radiation. This makes MRI a popular alternative to scans that use radiation.
- An MRI scan can take as little as 10 minutes or 2 hours. The duration depends on the specific purpose of the MRI scan.
- Japan has the highest number of MRI units per capita, with 43.1 units per million people. The United States comes in second place with 25.9 MRI units per million population.
- -The first successful MRI scan performed on a live human patient was performed on July 3rd, 1977.
- MRI machines are calibrated in Tesla units. Nikola Tesla is associated with the discovery of the rotating magnetic field.
Damadian, Raymond V. United States Patent: 3789832 –
APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DETECTING CANCER IN TISSUE. 3789832, filed March 17,
1972, and issued February 5, 1974. http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=3789832.PN.&OS=PN/3789832&RS=PN/3789832.
[1] The Manual’s Editorial Staff. “Quick Facts: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).” Merck Manuals Consumer Version. Accessed October 16, 2019. https://www.merckmanuals.com/home/quick-facts-special-subjects/common-imaging-tests/magnetic-resonance-imaging-mri.
[2] Macchia, Richard J., Jack E. Termine, and Charles D. Buchen. “Raymond V. Damadian, M.D.: Magnetic Resonance Imaging and the Controversy of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.” The Journal of Urology 178, no. 3 Pt 1 (September 2007): 783–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.juro.2007.05.019.
[3] Chang, Kenneth. “Denied Nobel for M.R.I., He Wins Another Prize.” The New York Times, March 23, 2004, sec. Science. https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/23/science/denied-nobel-for-mri-he-wins-another-prize.html.
[4] UW Radiology. “Featured History: Magnetic Resonance Imaging.” UW Radiology, December 5, 2014. https://rad.washington.edu/blog/featured-history-magnetic-resonance-imaging/.
[5] Fonar. “Timeline of MRI.” Accessed October 16, 2019. https://www.fonar.com/timeline_print.htm.
[6] MANA. “10 Facts About MRIs.” Medical Associates of Northwest Arkansas (blog), September 28, 2015. https://www.mana.md/10-facts-about-mris/.