National MagLab researchers have discovered a substance that could help MRI machines evolve from today’s bulky behemoths to hand-held scanners straight out of “Star Trek.”
The amazing substance they discovered: water.
Funded by the National Science Foundation, a research team led by Clifford “Russ” Bowers, a chemist at the University of Florida (UF) and the National MagLab, discovered a way to turn plain old H20 into a very effective contrast agent used in magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI.