Lego to the rescue

Lego to the rescue

I think this is a great idea for kids. I also like to see that the operator is female. We actually use Legos to test our MRI scanners. We put a Lego or Legos into a 50 mL tube with copper sulfate (it has a lower relaxation time than water). Because the Lego is plastic, i.e., doesn’t have protons that can interact with the magnet, it doesn’t have signal. So you get a void where the Lego is and you identify distortions (rather than a uniform image, if it were just plain liquid) if something is wrong with the system.

You can read more here:

Medical Imaging 101 pt 3: MRI

http://goo.gl/UVbiU

h/t Steve Esterly 

#ScienceEveryday  

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-berkshire-26438170