NMR imaging, applications

Almost all of these examples involve diffusion of a chemical species measuring diffusion rates has long been a specialty of NMR spectroscopy. The studies of KBr and drawn polyethylene produced unique information in the latter case, the known orientation of the deuterium electric field gradient in C-D bonds is used to determine the orientation, with respect to the magnetic field, of a polymer chain of a uniaxially ordered polyethylene fiber. The real time imaging of the polymerization of methyl methacrylate is very interesting and may represent a major direction for NMR imaging applications to polymer science. 

B. Blumich 2000, NMR Imaging of Materials, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 568 pp. Focus on theory and basics, collection of specific applications in the sense of examples some flow topics covered. 

Although nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has been used to study a variety of lanthanide based systems like contrast agents for medical imaging applications, only a handful of studies on lanthanide SMMs using NMR have been performed to date. These include the neutral [Ln(Pc)2]°(Ln = Dy or Tb)... 

The technique is currently not used as widely as UV, visible and infrared spectrometry partly due to the high cost of instrumentation. However, it is a powerful technique for the characterization of a wide range of natural products, raw materials, intermediates and manufactured items especially if used in conjunction with other spectrometric methods. Its ability to identify major molecular structural features is useful in following synthetic routes and to help establish the nature of competitive products, especially for manufacturers of polymers, paints, organic chemicals and pharmaceuticals. An important clinical application is NMR imaging where a three-dimensional picture of the whole or parts of a patient s body can be built up through the accumulation of proton spectra recorded over many different angles. The technique involves costly instrumentation but is preferable to... 

Foams and emulsions are other multiphase systems to which research on the application of NMR imaging is on-going. There are a great many practical uses of aqueous foams and emulsions in food, pharmaceuticals, and engineering. Understanding and particularly assigning specific functional roles to individual components in the foam has been severely... 

Extrusion processing is one of the most highlighted food processing to which potential application of a flow NMR image (a modified time-of-flight) have been demonstrated [61]. A vast array of food and feed products are produced by extrusion processing, an efficient method... 

Localized NMR spectroscopy, which is often called as MRS in comparison with MRI, is not so familiar technique in food science, because a specific pulse sequence such as ISIS and a facility which can precisely follow the pulse sequence without any contamination from other position is needed for localization of position. The localized NMR is usually used together with NMR imaging. The study of solid/liquid ratios, fat structure and polymorphism and the kinetics of fat crystallization was reviewed [24], The potential of applications in food process development and control was offered. The localized spectra of sausages in areas of 0.3 mm X 0.05 mm (thickness of sample =1.5 mm) were obtained by the spin echo 2DFT method [113], in which the difference in the tissue structure was discussed with relation to the process and original materials. McCarthy et al. determined mobility of water in foams by using a localized spectroscopy [114]. T2 relaxation time varies in the foam as function of diameter and its variation was analyzed by the classic 2-state fast exchange model. 

Pulsed-field-gradient NMR and NMR imaging are still in their early stages of development Rapid development in methods and apparatus is expanding the field for potential applications. 

---