Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Its Applications in Neuropsychiatry

Abstract

The ability to measure the behaviour of protons when influenced by a magnetic field has been known to scientists since the early work of Purcell et al (1946) and Bloch (1946). The application of this technique to man, with the ability to reconstruct the data to create an image, is however a more recent innovation. Early work in this area was carried out by Damadian (1977) and Lautebur (1979) in New York, Mansfield & Maudsley (1977) in Nottingham, and Mallard et al (1979) in Aberdeen. The general principles of all these systems are similar, although the technical approaches have differed.