MRI

abbreviation (Health and Fitness) (Science and Technology) Short for magnetic resonance imaging, a technique which provides sectional images of the internal structure of the patient's body by plotting the nuclear magnetic resonance of its atoms and converting the results into graphic form by computer. Etymology: Formed by compounding: the image is based on the varying magnetic resonance of the atoms making up the body. History and Usage: Like CAT scanning (see CAT°), MRI was developed in the mid seventies as a diagnostic technique which would do away with the need for exploratory surgery. At first it was known as the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique or zeugmatography, but magnetic resonance imaging and the abbreviation MRI now seem to be becoming the established terms in popular sources. The technique works by passing low-frequency radiation through the soft tissues of the body in the presence of a strong magnetic field and scanning the temporary magnetic realignment that this produces in the nuclei of the elements; the machinery required to do this (an MR scanner) only became commercially available in the UK in the first half of the eighties. MRI produces a clear image of soft tissue even if it is obscured by bone, and is likely to become one of the foremost diagnostic techniques of the nineties. The abbreviation MRI is also sometimes used for magnetic resonance imager (another name for an MR scanner). The company's intensive work on developing semiconductor magnet systems has resulted in today's applications in...magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Physics Bulletin Jan. 1987, p. 9 MRIs are like CAT scan machines, but they create images by placing a patient in a strong magnetic field. Baltimore Sun 7 Mar. 1990, section C, p. 10