The most powerful MRI in the world reveals its first images

The Commissioner à atomic energy has revealed Tuesday, April 2 the very first images of the human brain obtained thanks to   which is none other than the most powerful MRI machine in the world!

He responds to the sweet name of Iseult and like his namesake from French song, we can say that he is a star in his field! After more than twenty years of research which mobilized no less than 200 people, the Police Station   Atomic Energy (CEA) has revealed Tuesday April 2 to the general public the very first images of the human brain made by the one which is none other than the most powerful MRI machine in the world & this day. And the least we can say is that the images are stunning! Never before has such a precise photo of the human brain been taken. made on the blue planet. A feat!

It must be said that Iseult is equipped with of a magnetic field of 11.7 Tesla, reports the European Commission. atomic energy. This information does not mean anything to you ? Please know that if you go to a hospital tomorrow to have an MRI, you will only be dealing with something like this. machines equipped with 1.5 or even 3 Tesla. Isolde is thus four à six times more powerful than a typical MRI machine. On its site, the CEA announced in 2017 that its aim was to obtain images of the brain 100 times closer than before. oacute;cise" than with traditional imagers. To achieve à these 11.7 teslas, Iseult is composed of of a huge magnet five meters long, weighing no less than 130 tonnes, which was created manufactured &agrav; Belfort between 2010 and 2017, and food of a current of very high intensity. (approximately 1 500ères).

Installed &agrav; NeuroSpin, the CEA center in Paris-Saclay (Essonne) in 2017, Iseult could only be put into operation in 2021, with the first images delivered They were held in October of the same year. À At the time, a pumpkin had served as a guinea pig, with numerous adjustments and authorizations still having to be acquired in order to be able to call on the team. human beings. "By gaining resolution and contrast, we can have stunning details on anatomical details, such as veins, that are unattainable with a conventional camera. lower magnetic field”, explained this Tuesday Nicolas Boulant, the research director at the Commissariat à atomic energy (CEA), which Le Parisien echoes.

In 2021, Nicolas Boulant already explainedé the interest of this incredible MRI, emphasizing that Isolde would allow researchers to better understand the brain and what happens during certain learning, such as language, but also to deepen our knowledge of this organ as well as to better understand the causes of certain pathologies ;braral diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease. This Tuesday, the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, did not miss his invitation. to congratulate the teams. Rejoicing on X of a major advance and [of] immense hope for the study of our health ", the head of state was above all keen to greet a "proudé Frenchçaise".