Cookies on this website
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Continue' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Oxford key to network of ultra-powerful MRI scanners

General Research

Researchers at Oxford University are playing a key role in expanding the UK's network of ultra-powerful MRI machines. Oxford and Nottingham Universities have been pioneering research using so-called 'Ultra-high field' (UHF) MRI scanners, which are at the cutting edge of biomedical imaging. They are now joined by new systems in Cardiff, Cambridge and Glasgow.

UHF MRI has the potential to provide unique insights into key medical conditions including dementia, cerebrovascular disease and mental health. Research is now focusing on taking the technology out of the lab and into hospital, with the UK poised to play a major role.

Using the standard measure of magnetic power, the Tesla, the machines are rated at 7 Tesla (7T). One Tesla is about 20,000 times the strength of Earth's magnetic field and medical MRI scanners are around 1.5 Tesla.

Read more

Similar stories

Five ways the pandemic has affected routine medical care

Since the beginning of the pandemic, COVID has infected at least a third of the UK population and is estimated to have factored in the deaths of almost 200,000 people in the UK. But critically, COVID has also had a devastating impact on our healthcare systems. While this was expected, new evidence is beginning to reveal the scope of the issue – in particular the effects for people living with long-term health conditions.

Clinical trials for a malaria vaccine start in Mali and Indonesia

Sanaria Inc. announced that two new Phase 2 trials of its pioneering malaria vaccines have started. The first is in 6- to 10-year-old children living in Bancoumana, Mali, a malarious region of West Africa. The second is in Indonesian soldiers based in Sumatra, Indonesia. The soldiers will be deploying for six to nine months this coming August to an intensely malarious district in eastern Indonesia.

Mechanism of expanding bacteria revealed

A new study published in Nature has identified a potential Achilles heel in the protective layers surrounding Gram-negative bacteria that could aid in the development of next-generation antibiotics.

Oxford to receive £7 million to turn bright ideas into global opportunities

The University of Oxford has been awarded more than £7 million, the highest amount of funding given to organisations across the UK, in the latest round of UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) funding - aimed at fueling the best, brightest and most disruptive ideas from Uk research institutions.

Discovery of gene involved in chronic pain creates new treatment target

Oxford researchers have discovered a gene that regulates pain sensitisation by amplifying pain signals within the spinal cord, helping them to understand an important mechanism underlying chronic pain in humans and providing a new treatment target.

Oxford's largest ever study into Varicose veins shows need for surgery is linked to genetics

A new international study by Oxford researchers published in Nature Communications establishes for the first time, a critical genetic risk score to predict the likelihood of patients suffering with Varicose veins to require surgery, as well as pointing the way towards potential new therapies.