The Origins and Future of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging

JUN 01, 1992

What began as a curiosity of physics has become the preeminent method of diagnostic medical imaging and may displace x‐ray‐based techniques in the 21st century.

DOI: 10.1063/1.881310

Felix W. Wehrli

During the past two decades nuclear magnetic resonance has revolutionized chemistry, biochemistry, biology and, more recently, diagnostic medicine. Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, or mri as it is commonly called, is fundamentally different from x‐ray‐based techniques in terms of the principles of spatial encoding and mechanisms of signal and contrast generation involved. Mri has a far richer ultimate potential than any other imaging technique known today, and its technology and applications are still far from maturation, which may not occur until early in the 21st century.

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More about the authors

Felix W. Wehrli, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia.