When not fussing with idiot truck convoys, the Canadian research community is making some serious headway in identifying cancer cells. “Imaging” is the art and science of creating pictures of what we can’t see directly. Opening up your body to examine the inside of your prostate, pancreas of breast just isn’t a trivial thing to do. Unless absolutely necessary, most people quite sensibly would rather not.

This most recent advance in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) relies on differences in the motion of water molecules in health and cancerous cells. The irregular structure of cancer cells causes this difference in motion. The new form of MRI is called synthetic correlated diffusion imaging, and it causes cancer cells to “light up” on the images the MRI produces, making them easier for the technician and doctor to recognize.

Why does a better picture matter? Simply, you can more easily see the full extent…