News Computing

New theory defines faster MRI

Better equations could improve MRI quality, or even bring quantum computing closer

By Patrick Barry

- More than 2 years ago

A long-standing mystery about nuclear magnetic resonance has finally been solved, an advance that could lead to clearer MRI images for medical uses and could provide better control of atoms for quantum computers.

ATOM FLIPPING With a strong enough magnet and slow enough motion, it’s possible to flip the direction of an atom’s magnetic spin axis (orange line), as illustrated here.