Metamaterials to improve MRI

2008/10/16 Roa Zubia, Guillermo - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Materialak
• Medikuntza
• Fisika

Materials with negative refractive index, metamaterials, are very new for physicists. That's why new applications continue to appear very quickly. One of these applications has been developed by researchers from the University of Seville. Metamaterials have improved the accuracy and scope of the magnetic resonance technique.

The section of a man's knees was studied, placing the coil that receives the resonance signal next to a knee. First they made a typical resonance and then repeated it interspersing a metamaterial between the two knees. In the first session the two knees (upper image) did not look good, while in the second the section of both knees (lower) was seen. This result can revolutionize its application in hospital equipment. J.M. Freire