Another form of MRI measurement, called a functional MRI, can measure brain activity by detecting oxygen levels in specific brain areas.
Niddam's colleague, Yeh Tzu-chen (葉子城), showed the MRI scan of a patient with a brain tumor. The functional MRI, he explained, is used not only to pinpoint the location of the tumor, but to discern what functions the areas of the brain beside the tumor control.
Because of the tumor's location on the left side of the patient's brain, there was a risk that surgery could leave the patient without the use of the right hand.
"During the MRI, I stood next to the patient and tapped on their foot," said Yeh, who is also an assistant professor in the Department of Radiology at National Yangming University Medical School. "They knew that when I did they should move their right hand. The MRI recorded exactly which part of the brain next to the tumor was responsible for moving the hand, creating an indispensable map for surgeons to use in removing the tumor."
"Remember those guys who invented [MRI] got the Nobel for it?" Niddam said, referring to American Paul C. Lauterbur and Briton Sir Peter Mansfield's 2003 prize. "Without it, diagnosis worldwide would be much less efficient."
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