Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to produce detailed pictures of the body's anatomy and physiological processes, using strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients and radio waves rather than the ionizing radiation used by computed tomography, applying the underlying physics of nuclear magnetic resonance to living tissue. The chemist Paul Lauterbur produced the first nuclear magnetic resonance image in 1973 by adding magnetic field gradients to localize the signal, and the physicist Peter Mansfield developed the echo-planar imaging technique that later let scans complete in seconds rather than hours; Lauterbur's team went on to produce the first cross-sectional image of a living mouse in January 1974. Lauterbur and Mansfield jointly received the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries concerning magnetic resonance imaging, while the physician Raymond Damadian, whose team performed the first full-body human MRI scan on July 3, 1977, is also credited with early contributions though he did not share in the prize.