Not all clinical MR images are created equal.*

After the using the Fourier transform to transform our measured k-space data into image space, the image data is of complex type. This image data is then manipulated for different clinical utility. For example, a magnitude image is used to maximise the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Phase images are used to measure flow. Let’s look at how our MR signal is recorded and how these image types are calculated.

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Knowledge Transfer (KT) is concerned with the exploitation of knowledge, to speed up the translation of scientific advances into benefits for patients.

The World Report on Knowledge for Better Health (WHO 2004) has identified a large gap between what is known and what is actually being done in health systems. The so-called know-do gap. Increased communication and interaction between health systems and health research systems was called for. How do researchers achieve this? Continue Reading »

In 1836, Frederick Tiedmann wrote that there exists

“an indisputable connection between the size of the brain and the mental energy displayed by the individual man.”
(Hamilton JA 1935. The association between brain size and maze ability in the white rat. Doctoral dissertation, University of California, Berkeley.)

Brain volumes can be measured accurately with MRI, and using MRI, research has shown that intelligence and brain volume are meaningfully related. The correlation is higher in adult women. Another study in elderly men showed that fluid intelligence, premorbid intelligence, and visuospatial memory are affected, but not verbal memory and verbal fluency.

It’s OK to be big-headed after all…

I recently installed the Ubuntu (Linux) operating system on my home PC. My aim is to see how well I can get by with free software for all my home-use activities, which include website development, internet browsing, word processing, finance management, music, email and more. (Ubuntu automatically detected all my hardware, including wireless, bluetooth, printers, and “Fn” keys, and sucessfully repartitioned my hard drive to dual-boot with Windows Vista—very nifty. But I digress.) In the course of my dabbling in Linux, I have found myself more well prepared for performing research-related activities on one manufacturer’s MR scanner, which also runs on Linux. Continue Reading »