FMRI Full Form, Principle, Uses, Advantages, Disadvantages

fMRI Full Form: fMRI, known as Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, helps in measuring the minute change occurring in the flow of blood that occurs with the activity of the brain. fMRI helps to take pictures of the brain performing the function. The fMRI is done under the automated machine. The protons of Hydrogen emit and create electromagnetic signals that help to show the images on the computer.

The fMRI is a special type of machine, invented in the 1990s, by Seji Ogawa and Ken Kwong. He used the flow of blood and oxygen metabolism to infer brain activity. In the biomedical field, the fMRI has played a remarkable role since its discovery. This technology helps to detect Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease (help to identify the neurodegenerative disease). The New York study showed the motion of working while showing the response like emotions, and detection of sarcasm.

fMRI Principle 

The principle of fMRI is based on the nuclear magnetic resonance. In the presence of an external magnetic field the transfer of energy from lower to higher but the release of energy the electron comes in at its real stage, that is base level.  The magnate helps to detect the small changes in the signals that are associated with working of neurons.

The hemoglobin carries oxygen and transports the oxygen to different parts of the body. Thus, higher levels of oxygenated blood in a particular brain region are believed to correspond to higher neural activity in that region. For this region, color coding is used to represent differences in the level of oxygenated blood and thus differences in activity.

fMRI scanners use magnets to measure a signal from protons in the body that comes from H₂O. Each water molecule in the body contains two hydrogen atoms; these hydrogen atoms contain protons. These protons have magnetic properties when a magnet is present they interact with the magnetic field. fMRI is used to make lots of different types of images of the brain functional parts

fMRI Working

• fMRI works on the basis of Magnetic scanner. A very powerful electromagnet with a cylindrical tube has field strength 3 tesla that is about more than 50,000 times that of earth’s field. 
• In the scanner the magnetic field that has magnetic nuclei of atoms. The atomic nuclei are suddenly active but due to the magnetic field the nuclei become aligned in the direction of the field.
• The small magnetic signal from individual nuclei merge coherently resulting in the signal that is enough to measure.
• fMRI helps to see all parts clearly during the process like gray matter, white matter, and cerebral spinal fluid in the image of the brain. 
• For performing the fMRI, a patient goes in a long tubular magnetic platform, for this the body shows their magnetic properties to create highly detailed images of the brain.
• Another method to map brain activity is Intraoperative Brain Mapping.

fMRI Uses

• Used the examin the anatomy and activity of brain
• Determine brain mapping that is the part of the brain that detects the major function of the brain like thought, speech, movement sensations.
• Measure the effects of stroke, trauma or degenerative disease.
• Monitor the function of brain tumors.
• Guide the planning of surgery, radiation therapy, and other surgical activity in the brain.
• Primarily as a research tool that has clinical applications like Epilepsy, Diabetes, Parkinson Disease, Depression, Overreact Bladder, and Schizophrenia. 

fMRI Advantages 

fMRI technique is very useful in the field of Biomedical 

• Help to detect the Activity of the Brain.
• fMRI is safe and painless.  There is not any health risk occur during the procedure but Patients have to remove all the metal things because the machine have a big magnet 
• fMRI detects the abnormalities in the brain which we can find by other techniques like CT scan. 
• fMRI used in BOLD- blood oxygen level-dependent mechanisms. 
• fMRI helps to measure the problem before surgery. 
• fMRI prevents the brain from serious injuries. 
• fMRI given the high-resolution images.
• Non-invasive method with no known risks that provides the best spatial scale in studying the human brain.
• Repeat measurements within and across subjects.

fMRI Disadvantages

• fMRI is a costly and effective procedure.
• Sensitive for the body.
• Relatively low temporal resolutions.
• The scanner of fMRI is very  noisy
• Measure is indirect, BOLD is only a correlate of neural activity.
• fMRI is not applicable to all populations due to the need to stay still.

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