Basic MRI Physics

Musisi Alen
Lecturer, Medical Physicist
ECUREI, Mengo Hospital
 Introduction
• What is MRI?
• magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a spectroscopic
imaging technique used in medical settings to produce
images of the inside of the human body.

• MRI is based on the principles of nuclear magnetic

resonance (NMR), which is a spectroscopic technique
used to obtain microscopic chemical and physical data
about molecules

• In 1977 the first MRI exam was performed on a human

being. it took 5 hours to produce one image.
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Basic MRI Physics 26/05/2025 3
Motion With in the Atom

• Electrons spinning on their own axis

• Electrons orbiting the nucleus
• Nucleus its self spinning about its own
axis

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Hydrogen Nucleus

• Is the MR active nucleus used in clinical

MRI
• It contains a single proton
• Used because of its abundance in the body

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 Hydrogen Nucleus as a Magnet
• Law of electromagnetism states that a magnetic field is
created when a charged particle moves.
• Hydrogen nucleus contains one positively charged proton
that spins
• Hydrogen nucleus has a magnetic field induced around it
and it acts as a small magnet.
• Magnet of each hydrogen nucleus has in effect the north and
south poles of equal strength
• North south axis of each nucleus is represented by a
magnetic moment
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• Magnetic moment has size and direction.

 Alignment
• Magnetic moments of hydrogen nuclei are
randomly oriented in absence of magnetic field
• When placed in the magnetic field, magnetic
moments align with this magnetic field.
• Some align parallel with magnetic field
• Others align anti-parallel (opposite direction)

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 Cont…
• Hydrogen nuclei only possess two energy states or
populations (low and high)
• Low energy nuclei align their magnetic moments parallel
to the external field (spin up nuclei)
• High energy nuclei align anti-parallel (spin down nuclei)
• Strength of the external magnetic field and thermal
energy level of nuclei determine which hydrogen nuclei
align parallel or anti-parallel.

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 Cont…
• Low thermal energy nuclei do not possess enough energy to oppose
the magnetic field in the anti-parallel direction
• Increase in magnetic field, fewer nuclei will have enough energy to
oppose
• Thermal energy of nuclei is determined by the patient’s temperature
• Emphasis is put on stronger magnetic fields
• Magnetic moments of nuclei aligned parallel to the magnetic field
cancel out the smaller number of magnetic moments aligned anti-
parallel
• A small excess is left in the parallel direction and contributes to a net
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magnetic moment.
 Cont…
• Other MR nuclei align but because they are in less
abundance they are not used in clinical MRI (small
magnetic moments)
• Magnetic moments of hydrogen produces a significant
magnetic vector used in clinical MRI
• Magnetic moment of hydrogen is called the net
magnetisation vector (NMV)
• External magnetic field is Bo
• Interaction of NMV and Bo is the basis of mri
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• Unit of Bo is tesla or gauss, 1T = 10,000G

 Cont…
• A patient is put in the bore of magnet
• Hydrogen nuclei with in the patient align anti-parallel and
parallel to Bo
• A small excess align parallel to Bo and constitute a NMV
• Energy difference between two populations increase as Bo
increase
• At high field strength, fewer nuclei join the high energy
population
• NMV is higher at high field strength than at a low field
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strength resulting into improved signal

Precession
• Each hydrogen nucleus that makes up NMV is
spinning on its axis
• Bo produces an additional spin or wobble of NMV
around Bo
• Secondary spin is called precession and causes the
magnetic moments to follow a circular path around Bo
• Path is called precession path
• Speed at which NMV wobbles around Bo is
precessional frequency (unit is MHz)
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Cont…
• We have two populations of hydrogen nuclei
• Some with high energy (spin down nuclei)
• greater number of low energy nuclei (spin up
nuclei)
• Magnetic moments of all these precess around Bo
in a circular path (precessional path)

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Cont…
• At 1.5T, the precessional frequency of hydrogen is
63.86 MHz
• At 1.0T, it is 42.57 MHz
• At 0.5T, it is 21.28 MHz
• As Bo increases, the precessional frequency
increases (Larmor frequency increases)

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 Resonance
• Phenomenon that occurs when an object is exposed to
an oscillating perturbation that has a frequency close
to its own natural frequency of oscillation
• Nucleus gains energy when exposed to external
perturbation that has oscillation similar to its natural
frequency
• It gains energy and resonates
• If energy is delivered at a different frequency ,
resonation does not occur.
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 Cont…
• Energy at a precessional frequency of hydrogen at all
fields in clinical MR corresponds to radio frequency
(RF) band of the electromagnetic spectrum.
• RF pulse must be delivered at Larmor frequency of
hydrogen NMV for resonance to occur.
• Other nuclei aligned with Bo do not resonate because
they have different precessional frequencies
• Application of RF pulse is called excitation
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Cont…
• This absorption of energy cause an increase in
number of spin down nuclei
• Some spin up nuclei gain energy through resonance
and become spin down
• This is reduced by using high field strengths

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Results of Resonance
• NMV moves out of alignment away from Bo
• Angle through which it moves out of alignment is
called the flip angle
• Magnitude of flip angle depends on amplitude and
duration of RF pulse
• Usually flip angle is 90o
Bo is now termed the longtudinal axis/plane
the plane at 90o to Bo is termed as the transverse plane
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 Cont…
• With flip angle 90o, the nuclei are given sufficient
energy so that the longitudinal NMV is completely
transferred into transverse NMV
• Transverse NMV rotates in the plane at Larmor
frequency
• Magnetic moments in the transverse NMV move into
phase with each other (same position around the
precession paths)
• They move into the same position on the precession
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paths when resonance occurs

Cont…
• NB
For resonance of hydrogen to occur, RF at
exactly the Larmor frequency of hydrogen must
be applied
Result or resonance is a NMV in the transverse
plane that is in phase
NMV precess in transverse plane at Larmor
frequency
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 The MR Signal
• Raradays law of induction states that if a conductive
loop (receiver coil) is placed in the area of a moving
magnetic filed (NMV precessing in the transverse
plane), a voltage is induced in the receiver coil
• When magnetisation cuts across the coil, a signal is
produced
• Moving NMV produces magnetic field fluctuations
inside the coil
• As NMV precess in transverse plane, a voltage is
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induced (this voltage is the MR signal)

 Cont…
• Frequency of the signal is the same as Larmor
frequency.
• Magnitude of the signal depends on the amount of
magnetisation present in the transverse plane.

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Free Induction Decay (FID)
• NMV is again influenced by Bo and tries to realign with it when
RF pulse is switched off
• NMV must lose energy given to it by RF pulse
• This process is called relaxation
• NMV returns to realign with Bo
amount of magnetisation in the longitudinal plane gradually increase
(recovery)
amount of magnetisation in the transverse plane gradually decrease (decay)
As transverse magnetisation decreases and so does voltage
induced, the induction in reduced signal is called the free
induction decay (FID) signal
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Relaxation
• During relaxation, NMV gives up absorbed RF energy
and returns to Bo
• At the same time but independently the magnetic
moments of NMV lose transverse magnetisation due to
dephasing
• Relaxation leads to recovery of magnetisation in
longitudinal plane and decay of magnetisation in
transverse plane
recovery in longitudinal plane is called T1 recovery
decay in transverse plane is called T2 decay
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T1 Recovery
• Caused by nuclei giving up their energy to the
surrounding environment or lattice (spin-lattice
relaxation)
• Energy released to the surrounding environment
makes nuclei to recover their longitudinal
magnetisation
• Rate of recovery is an exponential process with
recovery time constant T1
• It is the time it takes 63% of the longitudinal
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magnetisation to recover in the tissue

T2 Decay
• Caused by nuclei exchanging energy with
neighbouring nuclei
• Exchange is caused by the magnetic fields of each
nucleus interacting with its neighbour (spin-spin
relaxation)
• Results in loss of transverse magnetisation
• Decay is exponential
• Constant is T2
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•A signal or voltage is only induced
in the receiver coil if there is
magnetisation in the transverse
plane that is in phase

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T1 and T2

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 Pulse Timing Sequencies
• Pulse sequence is a combination of RF pulses, signals and
intervening periods of recovery.
• The figure shows in simple terms the separate timing
parameters used in more complicated sequences, i.e. TR
and TE.

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Pulse Timing Sequencies

• Repetition time (TR) is the time from the application of

one RF pulse to the application of the next RF pulse for
each slice and is measured in milliseconds (ms).
• TR determines the amount of longitudinal relaxation that
is allowed to occur between the end of one RF pulse and
the application of the next.
• TR thus determines the amount of T1 relaxation that has
occurred when the signal is read.

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Pulse Timing Sequencies

• Echo time (TE) is the time from the application

of the RF pulse to the peak of the signal induced
in the coil and is measured in ms.
• The TE determines how much decay of
transverse magnetization is allowed to occur.
• TE thus controls the amount of T2 relaxation
that has occurred when the signal is read.

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Image Weighting And Contrast
Image Contrast
The factors that affect image contrast in diagnostic imaging are usually
divided into two categories.
1. Intrinsic contrast parameters are those that cannot be changed
because they are inherent to the body ’ s tissues;
T1 recovery time, T2 decay time, proton density, flow, apparent
diffusion coefficient
2. Extrinsic contrast parameters are those that can be changed;
TR, TE, flip angle, TI, turbo factor/echo train length, b value

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 Contrast Mechanisms
• MR image has contrast if there are areas of high signal (white) and areas of
low signal (dark). Intermediate signal (shades of gray).
• The NMV can be separated into the individual vectors of the tissues
present in the patient, such as fat, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and muscle.
• A tissue has a high signal if it has a large transverse component of coherent
magnetization at time TE. If there is a large component of coherent
transverse magnetization the amplitude of the signal received by the coil is
large, resulting in a bright area on the image.
• A tissue returns a low signal if it has a small transverse component of
coherent magnetization at time TE. If there is a small component of
transverse coherent magnetization, the amplitude of the signal received by
the coil is small, resulting in a dark area on the image.
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 Contrast Mechanisms
• Images obtain contrast mainly through the
mechanisms of T1 recovery, T2 decay and proton or
spin density.
• The proton density of a tissue is the number of
mobile hydrogen protons per unit volume of that
tissue.
• The higher the proton density of a tissue, the more
signal available from that tissue.
• T1 and T2 relaxation depend on three factors:
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 Contrast Mechanisms
• The inherent energy of the tissue . If the inherent
energy is low, then the molecular lattice is more
able to absorb energy from hydrogen nuclei.
• Tissues with a high inherent energy cannot easily
absorb energy from hydrogen nuclei.
• This is important in T1 relaxation processes, which
rely on energy exchange between the hydrogen
nuclei and the molecular lattice (spin lattice).
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 Contrast Mechanisms
• How closely packed the molecules are. In tissues
where molecules are closely spaced, there is more
efficient interaction between the magnetic fields of
neighboring hydrogen nuclei.
• The reverse is true when molecules are spaced apart.
• This is important in T2 decay processes, which rely on
the efficiency of interactions between the magnetic
fields of neighbouring hydrogen nuclei (spin - spin).
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 Contrast Mechanisms
• How well the molecular tumbling rate matches the
Larmor frequency of hydrogen. If there is a good
match between the two, energy exchange between
hydrogen nuclei and the molecular lattice is efficient.
(This is similar to resonance, where energy exchange
occurs most efficiently when energy is applied at the
same frequency as the Larmor frequency of hydrogen.)
• When there is a bad match, energy exchange is not as
efficient.
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 Relaxation Times In Different
Tissues
Fat and Water
• Fat molecules contain atoms of hydrogen arranged with
carbon and oxygen. It has large molecules called lipids
closely packed together and whose molecular tumbling rate
is relatively slow.
• Water molecules contain two hydrogen atoms arranged with
one oxygen atom (H 2 O). Molecules are spaced apart and
their molecular tumbling rate is relatively fast. The oxygen
in water tends to steal the electrons away from around the
hydrogen nucleus. This renders it more available to the
effects of the main magnetic field.
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 Relaxation Times In Different
Tissues
• In fat, the carbon does not take the electrons from around
the hydrogen nucleus. They remain in an electron cloud,
protecting the nucleus from the effects of the main field.
• The Larmor frequency of hydrogen in water is higher than
that of hydrogen in fat.
• Hydrogen in fat recovers more rapidly along the longitudinal
axis than water and loses transverse magnetization faster
than in water. Subsequently, fat and water appear differently
in MR images.

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 T1 Recovery in Fat
• T1 recovery occurs due to nuclei giving up their energy to the
surrounding environment.
• Fat has a low inherent energy and can easily absorb energy into
its lattice from H. The slow molecular tumbling in fat allows the
recovery process to be relatively rapid, because the molecular
tumbling rate matches the Larmor frequency and allows efficient
energy exchange from H to the surrounding molecular lattice.
• This means that the magnetic moments of fat nuclei are able to
relax and regain their longitudinal magnetization quickly. The
NMV of fat realigns rapidly with B0 so the T1 time of fat is short

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 T1 Recovery in Water
• Water has a high inherent energy and cannot easily absorb
energy into its lattice from hydrogen nuclei.
• Molecular mobility is high, resulting in less efficient T1
recovery because the molecular tumbling rate does not match
the Larmor frequency and does not allow efficient energy
exchange from hydrogen nuclei to the surrounding molecular
lattice.
• The magnetic moments of water take longer to relax and regain
their longitudinal magnetization. The NMV of water takes
longer to realign with B0 and so the T1 time of water is long.
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 T2 Decay in Fat
• T2 decay occurs as a result of the magnetic fields
of the nuclei interacting with each other.
• This process is efficient in hydrogen in fat as the
molecules are packed closely together and
therefore spin – spin interactions are more likely
to occur. As a result spins dephase quickly and
the loss of transverse magnetization is rapid.
• The T2 time of fat is therefore short.
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T2 Decay in Water
• T2 decay in water is less efficient than in fat, as
the molecules are spaced apart and spin – spin
interactions are less likely to occur. As a result,
spins dephase slowly and the loss of transverse
magnetization is gradual.
• The T2 time of water is therefore long.

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 T1 Contrast
• T1 time of fat is shorter than that of water, the fat vector
realigns with B0 faster than the water vector. The longitudinal
component of magnetization of fat is therefore larger than
that of water.
• After a certain TR that is shorter than the total relaxation
times of the tissues, the next RF excitation pulse is applied.
• The RF excitation pulse flips the longitudinal components of
magnetization of both fat and water into the transverse plane

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T1 Contrast
• As there is more longitudinal magnetization in fat before
the RF pulse, there is more transverse magnetization in
fat aft er the RF pulse.
• Fat therefore has a high signal and appears bright on a
T1 contrast image.
• As there is less longitudinal magnetization in water
before the RF pulse, there is less transverse
magnetization in water aft er the RF pulse.
• Water therefore has a low signal and appears dark on a
T1 contrast image. Such images are called T1 weighted
images
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 T2 Contrast
• The T2 time of fat is shorter than that of water, so the
transverse component of magnetization of fat decays faster.
• The magnitude of transverse magnetization in water is large.
Water has a high signal and appears bright on a T2 contrast
image. However, the magnitude of transverse magnetization
in fat is small.
• Fat therefore has a low signal and appears dark on a T2
contrast image
• Such images are called T2 weighted images
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 Proton Density Contrast
• Proton density contrast refers to differences in signal intensity
between tissues that are a consequence of their relative
number of mobile hydrogen protons per unit volume.
• To produce contrast due to the differences in the proton
densities between the tissues, the transverse component of
magnetization must reflect these differences.
• Tissues with a high proton density (e.g. brain tissue) have a
large transverse component of magnetization (and therefore a
high signal) and are bright on a proton density contrast image.

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Proton Density Contrast
• Tissues with a low proton density (e.g. cortical
bone) have a small transverse component of
magnetization (and therefore a low signal) and are
dark on a proton density contrast image.
• Proton density contrast is always present and
depends on the patient and the area being
examined.
• It is the basic MRI contrast and is called proton
density weighting.
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