What is MRI?
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is one of the most advanced techniques available to image the human body. It uses a strong magnetic field and radio waves which are processed through a powerful computer to produce images of the internal structures of the body.
How does it work?
The body is made up of primarily water and fat. Both these tissues have many hydrogen atoms, when these are placed in the magnetic field of the MRI scanner they all line up and spin and emit radio waves which are picked up by special receivers (Coils). The radio waves are passed onto the computer, analysed and converted into images of the internal structure of the body. When there is injury or disease the amount of water and fat in the tissues changes and is represented on the images allowing a diagnosis to be made.
