Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a non-invasive imaging technique that allows for the visualization and characterization of soft tissues. It provides anatomical, structural, and functional information. With MRI, one can monitor, in vivo, metabolic activity or neuronal activity, making it a promising field of research. Ongoing MRI research focuses on improving sensitivity, accelerating acquisition methods, designing novel imaging agents, or answering biological questions with existing practices. This course aims to introduce the basic concepts of MRI clearly and concisely to a diverse audience. Although MRI is based on physical principles, the course will use the "vector model" to simplify the explanation of the technique's various aspects, providing participants with a better understanding of how MRI experiments work.
The topics that will be covered in the course:
• The nuclear magnetic resonance signal
• Relaxation
• Magnetic field gradients
• Principles to obtain an MR image
• Common pulse sequences
• Signal-to-noise ratio and artifacts
• Image contrast
• Contrast agents
• Non-1H (X-nuclei) MRI
• MRI applications without the use of imaging agents
• Molecular and cellular MR imaging