Nobel Prize winner, father of MRI technology Richard Ernst is dead

The Swiss Nobel laureate in chemistry, Richard Ernst, has died.

The researcher received the award in 1991 for his important work on nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

He died on Friday at the age of 87, his family announced via his website on Tuesday. He last lived in a nursing home in his native Winterthur.

The methods Ernst developed helped to dramatically increase the sensitivity and resolution of analytical instruments.

His research formed the basis for modern magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which can be used to examine patients' tissues and organs without harmful X-rays.

"I wanted to understand the secrets behind my chemical experiments and behind the processes in nature," Ernst was quoted on his website as saying.