What is an fMR scan?

Functional magnetic resonance (fMR) imaging, is a technique which detects changes in blood flow to brain, when the brain is active.

fMRI illustration of activations for faces — Pernet, Cyril; Madan, Christopher. (2019). Best practice for fMRI displays, plots and colour maps. University of Edinburgh, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences & Edinburgh Imaging

What is an fMR scan & what is it used for?

fMR is still being developed & researched & is one of the most recent advances in magnetic resonance (MR) technology. Because it is one of the family of MR techniques, it is non-invasive & uses powerful magnetic fields & radio waves to generate useful information about the brain.

The difference between fMR versus structural MR, is that fMR produces images based on brain blood flow, from which is inferred brain function, whereas structural MR generates images which reflect anatomy.

An fMR scan is used to:

Monitor how the brain stores & processes thoughts, memories & speech etc.
Guide future surgery

This article was published on 21 Apr, 2020