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First Image Taken With an Ultra Low Field MRI
KentuckyFC writes "MRI machines are about to get smaller, much smaller. Most of their bulk is taken up by the huge superconducting magnets required to generate fields of a few Teslas. Now a team at the Los Alamos National Lab in New Mexico has built a machine that can produce images using a field of only a few microTesla (PDF, abstract here). So giant superconducting magnets aren't necessary, a development that has the potential to make MRI machines much smaller, perhaps even suitcase-sized. The one-page paper shows sections of the first 3D brain image taken with the device."
If it were easy (or even moderately hard) to control a phobia, I suspect most people would. Justification is irrelevant. It matters only that the fear exists. Conquering a phobia typically requires exposure (with neutral or rewarding consequences) to the fear-provoking stimulus. In his case, gradual exposure to being in the tube.
I realize that many people find it difficult to understand the lack of control inherent in a phobia. I (with my injection phobia) am often told (by medical professionals) simply to get over it. Unfortunately, when a needle is present, I descend into blind animal panic. My rational mind ceases to function. The thoughts of controlling and pushing through the fear don't even occur to me. It is a pure flight-or-fight response, and I have done both.
Additionally, the guilt of having wasted time (of the doctors or other patients) needlessly adds to the unpleasantness of the situation. His attempts to undergo the procedure are, in my opinion, courageous.
People need help, not guilt or reprimands.
Reality is fluffy!
The summary is VERY incorrect.
This isn't an ultra low field MRI, it's a DUAL field MRI. In a normal scanner you have a big, static magnetic field that polarizes the sample and remains for readout. In one of these dual field scanners you use the big field (or a bigger field, it's usually a resistive electromagnet so it can't be anywhere near as strong as a superconductor) to polarize the sample then you shut it off and use a much smaller field for readout. There are a few advantages, the one the abstract focuses on is that you can do things like MEG in a very low field. The other is that energy deposition is related to the field strength so by using a small field you can use imaging sequences that would otherwise pump too much energy into the subject.
One of the guys working on this technology visited my lab last year. It was a very interesting presentation.
I believe someone has produced an MR image using the Earth's magnetic field. They've certainly done nMR in the Earth's field. You can't get much lower than that on this planet.