BOULDER, Colo.-Customized microscopic magnets that might one day
be injected into the body could add color to magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI), while also potentially enhancing sensitivity and
the amount of information provided by images, researchers at the
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and
National Institutes of Health (NIH) report. The new micromagnets
also could act as "smart tags" identifying particular cells,
tissues, or physiological conditions, for medical research or
diagnostic purposes. As described in the June 19 issue of
Nature,* the NIST and NIH investigators have demonstrated the
proof of principle for a new approach to MRI. Unlike the
chemical solutions now used as image-enhancing contrast agents
in MRI, the NIST/NIH micro-magnets rely on a precisely tunable
feature-their physical shape-to adjust the radio-frequency (RF)
signals used to create images. The RF signals then can be
converted into a rainbow of optical colors by computer. Sets of
different magnets designed to a