MRI Technology Detects Diseases In Seconds Rather Than Hours - PSFK A typical MRI body scan is a difficult process which involves lying motionless in a tight space often for hours at a time. Imagine if that time could be shortened not only to minutes, but mere seconds. On your next visit to the doctors office, complex scanning procedures could be accomplished quickly and painlessly. Researchers at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland say that after a decade of work they've developed a new MRI (magnetic resonance imagining) technique that can scan for those diseases very quickly. In just 12 seconds, for instance, it may be possible to differentiate white from gray matter in cerebrospinal fluid in the brain; in a matter of minutes, a full-body scan would provide far more data, making diagnostics considerably easier and less expensive than today's scans.