Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a breakthrough magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology for omni imaging of the brain.
The technology, called multiplexed MRI (MRx), enables simultaneous mapping of more than 20 quantitative structural, physiological and molecular biomarkers in high spatial resolution using standard clinical MRI systems. The work, titled “Multiplexed Magnetic Resonance Imaging”, was published in Nature on May 6th, 2026.
The research team demonstrated the multiplexed MRI technology, or MRx, by characterizing brain tumors and multiple sclerosis lesions — revealing different structural, physiological and molecular changes associated with the diseases.
Research team from left to right: Rong Guo, Wen Jin, Yudu Li, Yibo Zhao, Ziwen Ke, and Zhi-Pei Liang. Photo taken in front of the first human MRI scanners developed by MRI pioneer, Nobel laureate Paul Lauterbur, displayed in the Beckman MRI Museum.
The study was led by Zhi-Pei Liang, professor of electrical and computer engineering and a member of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
CAII Faculty Fellow , Yudu Li, is the first author of the paper. Li is a research assistant professor in bioengineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His primary research interests include magnetic resonance imaging, signal processing, and machine learning, with a particular focus on the development of technologies for MR spectroscopic imaging, quantitative imaging, and multimodal neuroimaging, as well as mathematical modeling and computational methods for high-dimensional imaging problems.
This work lays a solid foundation for collaborations between CAII and the imaging science community at UIUC to advance AI-powered brain mapping and image analysis, strengthening CAII’s leadership in AI-driven scientific discovery.
Adapted from this article in the UIUC News Bureau.