Scientists believe a next-generation MRI machine will open a new window to the brain in order to help unravel the mystery of strokes.
The new $10 million ultra-high field magnetic resonance imaging machine (MRI) was officially commissioned this week by the University of Melbourne and the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health.
The machine would be more than twice as powerful as most units currently used, according to Professor Geoffrey Donnan from the Florey Institute.
“When we first started to introduce MRI scans 20 or more years ago, they were 0.3T [Tesla, a unit of magnetic strength]. Then we went to 1.5T then they went to 3T,” he said.
“Now these research cameras, if I can call them that, are 7T.
“That, as you can imagine, produces a much superior image than the ones we used to use 20 years ago.”
Professor Donnan said the differences were clear to the naked eye and researchers hoped to make “insightful discoveries” about what caused strokes when an artery to the brain blocks or ruptures.
Strokes are the second most common cause of death.
“In my area of stroke, you can look at minute blood vessels deep in the brain that you’re unable to see with other imaging MR machines,” he said.
“Stroke is a massive burden globally. It’s the second most common cause of death.
“To understand how they develop is absolutely critical.”
Decision-making, emotions better understood
Many kinds of human behaviour could be mapped throughout the brain with the new MRI, which was “incredibly important” for understanding how human beings work.
“With more sophisticated research we’re determining aspects of brain function we didn’t map very well before, [such as] decision-making, [and] emotions,” Professor Donnan said.
“Those mapping exercises would take quite a long time using the previous cameras we had and that still exist and can be done almost instantaneously with this new one.
“Once you understand that, you understand better how it’s disrupted by disease processes and therefore are more likely to determine how to prevent them.”
It could take five to 10 years for researchers to understand everything the new MRI can do, so for now would only be used for research purposes.
“We’ve got years of research to do before we can start using them on a routine clinical level,” he said.