This project will develop a new technology, magnet lacoustic resonance imaging (MARI), that can produce whole body images of equal or superior quality to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using the same contrast mechanisms as MRI, but at 12 to 24% of the cost. The low cost results from a magnetic field requirement only of that needed for MRI as well as a far simpler voxel location subsystem. The radio oscillator pulsing protocol of MRI is unchanged, but pulsed magnetic gradients are eliminated along with the need for superconducting magnets and special facilities. If successful, this project will make magnetic resonance examinations much more widely available than they have been with present day MRI.The limited, specific aim of this application is to test feasibility of the new voxel sensing subsystem. Feasibility will be evaluated by measuring signal to noise ratio in the detector output, comparing it with MRI values of 200:1, and by the ability of the new subsystem to pick out coherent nuclear spin signals from selected volumes within a phantom in a steady 0.01 tesla magnetic field.Commercial Applications:Because of the great commonality MARI has with the technology, material, and price of the upper end of the diagnostic ultrasound market, the new technology could be licensed for rapid incorporation into existing product lines. Both the $1.6 billion/year MRI and $3 billion/year ultrasound world markets could be rapidly addressed by providing combined ultrasound and improved MRI type imaging at 12 to 24% of current costs of MRI alone.National Cancer Institute (NCI)
