The world’s most advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner, known as Iseult, has successfully taken its first images of the brain. This remarkable medical technology development occurred in the Plateau de Saclay region, south of Paris. The project is an initiative of France’s Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), which initially used Iseult to scan a pumpkin in 2021, before receiving approval for human scans.
What is Iseult?
Around 20 healthy people volunteered to be scanned by Iseult, a novel MRI machine that produces an 11.7-tesla magnetic field. This power enables it to acquire images with ten times the precision of standard MRIs used in hospitals, which normally do not surpass three teslas.
“We have seen a level of precision never reached before at CEA,” said Alexandre Vignaud, a physicist working on the project.
Iseult’s greater strength allows it to see previously unnoticed details.
“With this machine, we can see the tiny vessels which feed the cerebral cortex, or details of the cerebellum which were almost invisible until now,” Vignaud added.
Sylvie Retailleau, France’s Research Minister and physicist, voiced her awe at Iseult’s capabilities, noting that “the precision is hardly believable!”
Iseult, located inside a five-meter-long, tall cylinder, features a 132-ton magnet operated by a coil with a current of 1,500 amps.
This revolutionary MRI equipment results from two decades of hard work by French and German engineers. Similar programs are ongoing in the United States and South Korea, although they have yet to begin scanning human images.
Iseult’s power can shed light on neurological conditions like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s
Iseult’s main goal is to improve our understanding of brain structure and function. According to Nicolas Boulant, the project’s Scientific Director, the scanner will assist in “better understanding the relationship between the brain’s structure and cognitive functions, for example when we read a book or carry out a mental calculation.” The team also expects that Iseult’s power can shed light on neurological conditions like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
The team behind Iseult also hopes to harness its capabilities to shed light on psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and depression.
A researcher at the CEA said, “We know that a particular area of the brain — the hippocampus — is implicated in Alzheimer’s disease, so we hope to be able to find out how the cells work in this part of the cerebral cortex.”
