The award of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine recognizes discoveries concerning the use of magnetic resonance to visualize different structures. The Assembly's decision to recognize the discoveries underpinning efficient spatial mapping of biological properties reflects the singular importance of imaging to the medical application of this technique. Without this, abnormalities in morphology cannot be recognized. Equally, the wealth of physiological information that can be obtained by manipulation of the magnetic resonance signal is of little value unless localized to identified organs, pathology or areas of tissue. Based on these early discoveries, a wide range of imaging and measurement techniques, together with enabling instrumentation, have been developed over the last 30 years. Commercial equipment became available in the early 1980s, and some 60 million MRI examinations are now performed each year. The power of the technique, and the range of applications, continues to develop rapidly.

The full text of this editorial is given in the PDF file below.