SIGHTINGS ON THE WEB Web site offers interactive MRI for experiments
Prototype Real-fore Interactive MRI on the WWW
Most sites on the World Wide Web purvey information. But one new site offers researchers the opportunity to conduct experiments from their desktop or laptop computers on an interactive, real-time magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system using conventional browser software such as Netscape. Most uses likely would involve biological or medical applications— such as studying the effects of drugs or contrast agents in animal models. But the system also could be employed in composite materials research. The site is at the University of Illinois' Biomedical Magnetic Resonance Laboratory, Urbana-Champaign ( h t t p : / / bmrl.med.uiuc.edu:8080). The interactive MRI system, known as NmrScope, is available on the web through a server called NWebScope. The system links standard commercial MRI system components with an IBM RS-6000 workstation and software produced at the University of Illinois. A researcher pays only the usual usage fee on the MRI system. According to Paul C. Lauterbur, director of the Illinois laboratory, the system demonstrates how the web might be used with a variety of instruments for interactive experiments. To use NWebScope, an authorized researcher must arrange for a sample to be delivered to the university. Connecting to the server (right), the researcher sees instrument settings and
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a menu of possible functions, such as "move slice forward," "zoom in," or "pan." After choosing the conditions desired, the researcher clicks a screen button to carry out the experiment. An image comes up on the screen, which the researcher can use to make immediate decisions on the next steps or download for later analysis. James Krieger
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MARCH 18,1996 C&EN
