Magnetic resonance imaging

Written by Dr Sheila Strover on March 14, 2025

Magnetic resonance imaging is a method of imaging of the body that allows the organs to be viewed in 'slices'.

Photograph of an MRI coil, resembling a tube into which the patient is slid.
The body part to be scanned is enclosed by the magnetic coil, which affects the various tissue planes, allowing the viewer to 'see' the soft tissues.
Photograph of a surgeon explaining an MRI scan to a patient.
The radiologist has to look at a series of two-dimensional visual 'slices' and interpret them in three dimensions.

MRI uses magnetic fields, not radiation

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Scans resemble an X-ray but radiation is not used.

Instead the limb is placed inside a magnetic coil, and the alignment of cellular charge to the magnet allows an interpretation to be made by computer as to the structure, and to some extent composition, of the body tissues.

Computerised tomography