This is an era of high technology and high range medical facilities. Our medical field has achieved many solutions to incurable diseases.
One of these high utility machines is an MRI machine. And due to up-gradation, a new machine called fMRI is developed. So here are a few differences between MRI and fMRI.
MRI vs fMRI
The difference between MRI and fMRI is that they are used for different purposes.MRI is used to determine the anatomical structure of the brain, and fMRI is used to detect the metabolic function of the brain. The fMRI investigates the blood vessels and also finds out the level of oxygen in the brain.
Want to save this article for later? Click the heart in the bottom right corner to save to your own articles box!
MRI machine is used to detect any dysfunctionality or disorder in the brain. The CT scan sometimes fails to detect the problem, so MRI was introduced to overcome the problem.
fMRI is a highlight to the MRI technology. This is also used to find the dispute or disorder in the brain. The full form of fMRI is Functional Magnetic Resonance Investigation.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | MRI | fMRI |
|---|---|---|
| Used for determining | Anatomical structure | Metabolic function |
| Studies were done | To calculate the water molecule’s hydrogen nuclei. | To calculate the level of oxygen. |
| Ability to observe | Type of tissues with respect to space | The difference in tissues with respect to time to time changes |
| Introduced in market | Already introduced and in applications. | Not yet introduced |
| Cost effective | Less costly | High cost |
What is MRI?
MRI machine is used to detect any dispute or disorder in the brain. The CT scan sometimes fails to detect the problem, so MRI was introduced to overcome the problem.
In case if the CT scan is not able to find the disorder, an MRI scan is referred to find it. The MRI has a high spatial resolution. It is able to find the disputes more accurately than CT scans.
The MRI works on an anatomical basis. It is helpful in finding the anatomical problems which are not visible with the naked eyes. The MRI machine calculates the water molecule’s hydrogen nuclei to find the disorders.
What is fMRI?
FMRI is a highlight to the MRI technology. This is also used to find the dispute or disorder in the brain. The full form of FMRI is Functional Magnetic Resonance Investigation.
FMRI is the latest technological machine after MRI to scan the human brain and finding the disorders correctly. But it is not yet introduced in the market due to its high price.
These are some factors on which the FMRI machine depends to get the correct information out. The FMRI machine is still in use for experimental purposes.
Main Differences Between MRI and fMRI
- MRI is already introduced in the market and is widely used, but the fMRI is not yet introduced in the market and is only used for experiments.
- The MRI machine cost is less than compared to the fMRI machine. The fMRI machine needs some extra hardware and software to work.
- https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/4472246/
- https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1995-00647-001
I’ve put so much effort writing this blog post to provide value to you. It’ll be very helpful for me, if you consider sharing it on social media or with your friends/family. SHARING IS ♥️
Piyush Yadav has spent the past 25 years working as a physicist in the local community. He is a physicist passionate about making science more accessible to our readers. He holds a BSc in Natural Sciences and Post Graduate Diploma in Environmental Science. You can read more about him on his bio page.
