Creating my First MRI
An MRI (or magnetic resonance imaging) scan is a radiology
technique which uses magnetism, radio waves, and a computer to
produce images of body structures. The MRI scanner is a tube
surrounded by a giant circular magnet. The patient is placed on
a moveable bed which is inserted into the magnet. The magnet
creates a strong magnetic field which aligns the protons of
hydrogen atoms, which are then exposed to a beam of radio waves.
This spins the various protons of the body, and they produce a
faint signal which is detected by the receiver portion of the
MRI scanner. The receiver information is processed by a
computer, and an image is then produced.
At the doctors on Friday afternoon I was told I might need an
MRI, the above paragraph tells the medically minded people what
an MRI is... I'm not medically minded nor do I have one of those
machines at my disposal. I do have a radio, which does generate
rock and roll radio waves, a computer(even though I rent it) and
I have a magnet. I also have a lifetime memberships to ACME, the
very same company that Will E. Coyote uses for his gadgets to
stop a very fast bird found in some southern states. I give Acme
a call, tell them what I want to do and they send me some
anodes, cathodes, a few light bulbs, a toggle switch, a few 20
watt fuses and an three receptacle extension cord. They also
sent me some very detailed technical drawings called pink
slips(I guess they thought that I wanted to have a drag race
with their x-ray technician) These drawings were probably drawn
by an overly intelligent five year old because the pictures
looked like a house, a tall stick woman with long hair, a taller
stick man with a cowboy hat, and a smaller stick person walking
a dog. I used one of my refrigerator magnets and hung up the
picture on my freezer door. I poured myself a drink of Kool-Aid
(and YES I did keep it away from my keyboard), then I walked
into the livingroom/workspace and looked at all the stuff I had
collected to make my very own MRI. The first thing I did was
remove the twist ties from the extension cord, then I grabbed
the radio with one of my favorite CD's and plugged that into the
extension cord. Then I tried to figure out how to turn my
ordinary refrigerator magnets into a small electron magnet.
There was a flurry of activity as I grabbed the anodes and
cathodes, my cat, (He was playing with one of them) and I
attached wires, fuses, toggle switch into a continuos loop. I
sure am glad that I didn't waste any time going to electronics
in high school or the Navy because I had this all figured out in
no time. I think I found my niche in the world. Five, ten, and
even 15 minutes later there was still no smoke on the magnet.
This was when I now had to do the hardest thing, and that was
logging off of Writing.Com so I could use the computer to create
the "I" in the MRI. So there I was, completely alone with no one
IM'ing me or chatting on Scrolling IMs... I unplugged the
computer from the wall and plugged it into the extension cord
then I plugged in the extension cord into the wall. And nothing
happened. I turned on the computer and as it was going through
the booting and the Welcome to MSN I tried to rub the converted
electric magnet over my leg. All I could see was wavy lines on
my monitor. I thought, "Oh No my leg went back into the Navy and
didn't invite me". After a few moments I figured out that was
impossible because my leg was still there and functioning. Then
I came up with a Nobel Prize winning idea... I put the electric
magnet in the shell of my mouse and connected it to the
computer. I put this up to my leg and I nearly ran a marathon
around my livingroom. I really got a charge. Now if you know
anything about electronics you know I have made all of this up
so please don't try this at home...and listen to your doctor.