The impact of a revolutionary development in brain imaging is transforming the way in which scientists investigate the connection between brain structure and function. A new scanner called Connectome 2.0 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), developed with support from the NIH Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) initiative, promises a remarkable leap in imaging resolution. It enables visualization of the microarchitecture of the human brain in unprecedented detail in living subjects.
The relationship between the physical structure of the brain and its influence on cognition and behavior has long posed a challenge for neuroscientists. Brain circuitry is organized across a wide range of scales, from large-scale connections between entire brain regions to microscopic interactions among individual neurons. This complexity is further emphasized by its role in neuropsychiatric disorders, where structural dysfunctions may contribute to a variety of symptoms.
The Connectome 2.0 system is a next-generation 3 Tesla MRI scanner that improves upon its predecessor developed under the Human Connectome Project. Its most notable feature is a powerful head-only gradient coil with an estimated maximum gradient strength (Gmax) of 500 mT/m and a slew rate of 600 T/m/s. These values are roughly double and triple, respectively, those of the original system, and making Connectome 2.0 more than 20 times more potent than existing clinical MRI systems.
This huge capacity translates to substantial performance improvement. With the scanner, high-resolution in vivo diffusion images can be achieved with an isotropic resolution of 1 mm in less than 30 minutes, allowing it to visualize fine white matter tracts, such as the mammillo-tegmental pathway, that were previously undetectable.
Its improved power of gradients also reduces echo times (TE) by 13-50% compared to Connectome 1.0 and by more than 77% compared to standard scanners. These reductions contribute to a significantly improved signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) up to levels that are as much as 2-fold at extreme diffusion weightings (b-value of 40,000 s/mm2) compared to its earlier model and more than 10-fold higher than with conventional systems.
Modern cooling and power supply systems allow the performance to be maintained without overheating, whereas 72-channel in vivo and 64-channel ex vivo radiofrequency (RF) coils specially developed allow an enhanced SNR to be achieved. E.g., the in vivo coil has 1.5x greater SNR than in the cortex and 5 percent centrally, whereas the ex vivo coil has 1.73 times the SNR of the in vivo coil in peripheral regions.
Connectome 2.0 also provides unequalled gradient strength compared to other competing platforms, including the NexGen 7T (Gmax = 200mT/m), or future MAGNUS 2.0 and NeuroFrontier systems (Gmax > 300mT/m). Its architecture is already starting to affect commercial scanner design and accelerating the integration of ultra-high-performance functionality into clinical imaging platforms.
Such development will have radical implications in the field of neuroscience and medicine. It enables earlier and non-invasive diagnosis of conditions such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, and brain tumors, and ensures more personalized treatment strategies, including image-guided neuromodulation. Precision neuroscience is rapidly becoming a reality, with Connectome 2.0.
References: Ramos-Llordén G, Lee HH, Davids M, et al. Ultra-high gradient connectomics and microstructure MRI scanner for imaging of human brain circuits across scales. Nat Biomed Eng. 2025. doi:10.1038/s41551-025-01457-x
