Researchers Figure Out How to Turn a Glove into an Imaging Device

Researchers at New York University Langone Health have developed a wearable device that takes detailed images of bones, ligaments, and tendons in the hand. The glove-like instrument utilizes a high-impedance coil which prevents electrodynamic interactions with nearby coils, allowing the MRI device to bend and move according to the hand’s structure.

In traditional MRI scanners, receiver coils are positioned to stop magnetic fields from neighboring coils. NYU researchers Bei Zhang, PhD, and Martijn Cloos, PhD, wanted to create a technology that could eliminate these interferences but also ensure strong image quality.

Cloos and Zhang determined that by overlapping the coils they could minimize interactions. This kind of design allowed them to create a flexible device. "The unique aspect of this technology is that the coils do not interact as much, so we don't have to worry about where we place them spatially relative to one another," Cloos told Aunt Minnie. "In combination with their flexibility, it allowed us to try the craziest things we could think of -- like putting them onto the glove -- so we could image the hand in any possible position and see what is happening as the hand is moving."

Since the glove’s receiver coils don’t create interfering magnetic fields, the researchers were able to stitch “off-the-shelf coaxial cable” that can freely move with the hand. The scanner snaps 3D images of the hand and wrist. Cloos and Zhang are considering additions that would cover the body.