Their new new design opens up the use of the MRI to those with implants, with obesity, and other circumstances that prohibit the machine's use.

Critical for achieving accurate diagnoses, a Magnetic Resonance Imager (MRI) has several critical limitations. For those with implants like pacemakers, the MRI cannot be used. Existing machines can't see inside human lungs, they expose patients—especially repeat patients with chronic conditions—to significant amounts of radiation. They're expensive to install and run, and for those in the highest echelons of the body-mass index, they can't fit into the opening.

The 0.55T MAGENTOM Free.Max solves all five of these drawbacks, thanks to the work of Orlando Simonetti, a research director of cardiovascular magnetic resonance at OSU, and Rizwan Ahmad, assistant professor of biomedical engineering.