Magnetised molecules could offer improved diagnostic insights

While still in the early stages, the research reported in Science Advances has taken steps towards a new MRI method with the potential to enable doctors to personalise medical treatments and allow real-time imaging to take place in operating theatres and GP practices.

MRI detects the magnetism of molecules to create an image and has become a crucial tool in medical diagnostics. However, a typical hospital scanner will effectively detect one molecule in every 200,000, making it difficult to see the full picture of what’s happening in the body.

Improved scanners are now on trial in various countries, but because they operate in the same way as regular MRI scanners — using a superconducting magnet — these new models remain bulky and expensive.

The research team at York University has discovered a way to make molecules more magnetic and more visible, which could lead to a new generation of low-cost and highly sensitive imaging techniques.