The MR scanner in a nutshell

In the magnetic resonance (MR) scanner, a well-controlled interplay of a static main magnetic field, time-varying gradient magnetic fields, and radiofrequency fields is used to generate images. Here these three different types of magnetic or electromagnetic fields are summarized in relation to hardware components of the MR system. The sequential activation of gradient magnetic and radiofrequency fields, along with the data collection process, is accomplished using MR pulse sequences, of which the overall concept is outlined.