MRI Physics Education Materials

The "engineering" approach to learning MRI physics typically follows a more formal set of courses, described at the main Education area of this site.  Alternatively, this page contains less formal short videos that attempt to give shorter, intuitive overviews of specific topics.  The original lectures were intended to teach MRI physics to medical residents and fellows, but may be more broadly useful.

1 - Overview of MRI

Overview of MRI

  • Basic Concepts
  • Excitation
  • Image Formation
  • Image Contrast
  • Signal-to-Noise Ratio

2 - MRI Hardware

MRI Hardware Overview

  • Static (B0) Magnetic Field
  • RF Transmit and Receive Fields
  • Gradient Fields

3 - MRI Signal Excitation

MRI Signal Excitation

  • Rotation around Transverse Fields
  • Tuned Excitation & Rotating Frame
  • Selective Excitation

4 - MRI Image Formation

MRI Image Formation

  • MRI Gradients
  • Frequency encoding principles
  • Spatial Frequency and k-space
  • Image encoding and acquisition

5 - MRI Resolution and Field-of-View

MRI Resolution and Field-of-View    

  • Review of Image Acquisition/Formation
  • k-space Extent and Image Resolution
  • k-space Density and Image FOV

6 - MRI Contrast Mechanisms

MRI Contrast

  • Relaxation, T1 and T2 Contrast    
  • Contrast Enhancement
  • Fat Suppression, Inversion-Recovery
  • Diffusion

7 - MRI Pulse Sequence Overview

MRI Sequences Overview

  • Sequences and Timing
  • Spin-Echo Sequences
  • Gradient-Echo Sequences
  • Magnetization Preparation Sequences

Please use the content of these videos freely for education purposes.  Please send comments, corrections or suggestions to bah@stanford.edu.  I will periodically update and modify these.