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Ultra-high magnetic field, cryogenic engineering, and decades of research place Iseult at the center of a new stage in neuroimaging, capable of revealing details of the living brain and supporting studies on structures, chemical signals, and neurological diseases without resorting to invasive methods.
Installed at the NeuroSpin center in Saclay, France, the Iseult magnetic resonance scanner produced images of the living human brain with a level of detail far superior to that obtained in common hospital equipment.
Released by CEA on April 2, 2024, the series of images is part of a project initiated in 2001 to study healthy and diseased brains with unprecedented resolution in human neuroimaging.
The equipment operates with a magnetic field of 11.7 teslas, weighs 132 tons, and was presented by CEA as the most powerful magnetic resonance machine in the world aimed at imaging the human brain.
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In hospital routine, magnetic resonance scanners usually work with fields of 1.5 or 3 teslas, a difference that helps explain the leap in clarity achieved by the French system.
11.7 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Enhances Brain Clarity
At the core of this technology is the strength of the magnetic field, which increases the ability to capture signals and form anatomical images with greater contrast and definition.
During the first study with human participants, Iseult recorded brain images in about four minutes, according to information released by CEA.
The reported resolution was 0.2 millimeters in the image plane, with a slice thickness of 1 millimeter, a level considered unusual for exams in living humans.
This level of detail corresponds to a volume equivalent to a few thousand neurons and allows observation of brain regions that appear with less definition in conventional machines.
To achieve similar quality in hospital scanners, according to CEA, hours of acquisition would be necessary, a condition unfeasible in clinical practice.
Besides the discomfort for the patient, such long exams would increase the risk of movements capable of impairing the final image and compromising data interpretation.
Iseult Functions as an Advanced Research Platform
Although it is compared to equipment used in hospitals, the Iseult was not presented as a machine intended for everyday diagnosis or immediate use in routine exams.
The central proposal is to serve as a scientific platform to expand understanding of anatomy, connections, and brain activity on a finer observation scale.
Published in Nature Methods on October 17, 2024, the study described the acquisition of images of the living human brain at a field of 11.7 teslas.
The initial protocol involved 20 healthy adults and used parallel transmission tools to reduce radiofrequency homogeneity issues.
Ultrahigh magnetic fields bring technical challenges that do not appear with the same intensity in lower power scanners, especially when the goal is to maintain good signal quality throughout the brain.
Among the critical points are variations in the radiofrequency field, control of energy absorption by the body, and stability of the data generated during the exam.
Detailed images can support neurological studies
One of the main scientific gains is the possibility of seeing small structures without resorting to invasive methods, such as sample removal or body opening.
Magnetic resonance imaging already uses magnetic fields and radiofrequency signals to produce internal images, but the power of the Iseult increases the amount of information captured in a short examination window.
According to the CEA, resolutions of this level can help researchers access previously unavailable information about brain mechanisms, mental representations, and neural signatures associated with states of consciousness.
The institution also cites possible contributions to studies on neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, areas where more detailed anatomical images can guide new investigations.
Another field of interest involves molecules and substances with weak signals, which are difficult to detect in smaller magnetic fields and require greater system sensitivity.
Among the examples mentioned by the CEA are lithium, used in the treatment of bipolar disorder, and molecules related to brain metabolism, such as glucose and glutamate.
132-ton machine requires extreme cold
Due to its physical size, the Iseult is more akin to a heavy scientific installation than a traditional examination room found in hospitals.
The magnet is 5 meters long, 5 meters wide, and has a central opening of 90 centimeters, proportions that explain part of the project’s complexity.
Inside the structure, there are 182 kilometers of superconducting wires and a coil through which 1,500 amperes circulate, responsible for sustaining the ultra-high magnetic field.
To maintain the necessary operating conditions, the system is cooled to about -271.35 °C using 7,500 liters of liquid helium.
This extreme cold allows the superconducting wires to conduct electric current without resistance, an essential condition to maintain the 11.7 tesla magnetic field stably.
In practice, temperature, electricity, magnetism, and image processing need to operate in an integrated manner for the examination to generate usable data for researchers.
More than 200 people participated in the project, including teams from CEA and industrial and academic partners involved in construction, installation, and method development.
Among the names mentioned by the institution are Alstom, now GE, Siemens Healthineers, Guerbet, and the University of Freiburg in Germany.
Safety was evaluated in the ultra-high magnetic field
In the study published in Nature Methods, the safety of human imaging in this magnetic field was evaluated through physiological, vestibular, behavioral, and genotoxicity measurements.
The analysis did not identify significant differences associated with exposure to the field in tests conducted during the initial protocol with healthy participants.
Even so, the research itself describes this phase as exploratory and points out limitations, including images impaired by movement in part of the high-resolution exams.
Future advances depend on motion correction, accelerated sequences, and improvements in radiofrequency coils and gradients, technical points necessary to enhance the quality of the results.
With this combination of magnetic power, cryogenic engineering, and image method development, Iseult expands the reach of neuroimaging in living humans.
The tool allows for investigating the brain with precision that conventional scanners still cannot deliver in the same acquisition time, paving the way for more detailed studies on brain structure, function, and chemical signals.
