Medical Uses of Chemistry

MRI

How does an MRI work?

An MRI, or Magnetic Resonance Imaging, is operated by the fundamentals of chemistry. To understand how chemistry associates with an MRI, you need to know how an MRI works.

A MRI works this way:

1. A magnetic field is released that manipulates all protons in the body, forcing them to align.
2. A radiofrequency wave is then pulsed through the patient, causing the protons to scatter, though being held together by the magnetic field.
3. Once the radiofrequency waves are powered off, the sensors of the MRI can detect the energy released from the protons, which the MRI then generates an image of.

What does chemistry have to do with it?

MRIs are based mostly by creating magnetic waves to manipulate protons. Both waves and atomic structures are important parts of chemistry, and are the basics to learning about chemistry. If the technology to create magnetic waves strong enough to alter the position of protons did not exist, neither would MRIs, and many health issues like cancer would be much harder to detect.