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LessonGrades 11 - 12

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

A black and white image shows a side-view x-ray of a person's skull.An MRI adult male head scan.

This lesson ties together the preceding lessons of this unit and brings students back to the overarching grand challenge question on MRI safety. During this lesson, students focus on the logistics of magnetic resonance imaging as well as MRI hardware. They integrate this knowledge with their acquired understanding of magnetic fields to create instructional safety awareness pamphlets, websites or slide presentations to solve the challenge question.

Engineers developed the MRI as a non-invasive imaging method. During this lesson, students think like biomedical engineers to gain an understanding of the purpose of each aspect of the machine. Then students act as safety engineers, combining this information with their knowledge about magnetic fields to determine and communicate safety issues related to the MRI.

After this lesson, students should be able to:

  • Describe the basics of how magnetic resonance imaging works.
  • Describe how the MRI hardware works.
  • State and present the connections between an MRI and the magnetic fields studied in this unit.
  • Explain safety hazards an MRI machine might present.

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