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Updated: May 8, 2026

High-resolution Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Methods for Human Midbrain
Published on: May 10, 2012
Magnetic-resonance imaging of the human brain with an atomic magnetometer
1Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
Abstract:
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is conventionally performed in very high fields, and this leads to some restrictions in applications. To remove such restrictions, the ultra-low field MRI approach has been proposed. Because of the loss of sensitivity, the detection methods based on superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) in a shielded room were used. Atomic magnetometers have similar sensitivity as SQUIDs and can also be used for MRI, but there are some technical difficulties to overcome. We demonstrate that MRI of the human brain can be obtained with an atomic magnetometer with in-plane resolution of 3 mm in 13 min.
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