Introduction

Abstract

Abstract If the man in the street has heard about magnetic resonance at all it is probably in the context of the ‘MRI scanner’, a large and expensive piece of equipment used to diagnose medical problems associated with the vital internal organs-the heart, brain, liver, kidney, etc. In his mind, he might well associate this machine with the earlier X-ray device, sometimes called the CT (computer-aided tomography) scanner. If ever he needs medical examination with a magnetic resonance scanner, he will be relieved to learn that it is a ‘non-invasive’ technique, in the sense that it does not involve the more usual exploratory surgery with a sharp knife. He should also feel reassured, because no ionizing radiation is involved, in contrast to X-ray procedures. To the medical fraternity X-ray scanning and magnetic resonance imaging are usually grouped under radiology, and they occupy the high technology end of medical practice, reminiscent of the wizardry visualized in certain science fiction films.