The Very Basics of NMR

We attempt to describe NMR Imaging in a simplified manner using only three essential equations that explain why we see a signal and what it looks like. The first equation describes the nuclear spin magnetization, thus the strength of the NMR signal (and indeed much more)  

This equation is called the Curie law and relates the equilibrium magnetization M0 to the strength of the magnetic field B0. The constants have the following meaning I is the nuclear spin quantum number (see below), y is the gyromagnetic ratio specific for a given isotope, h is Planck s constant, kB is Boltzmann s constant, N is the number of nuclei and T is the temperature. 

The time dependence of the magnetization vector, M(t), is thus related to the cross-product of M and B. Keep in mind also that the magnetic field can be time-dependent. We have replaced B0 by B to indicate that the magnetic field can consist 

The quantity of interest is the precession of the components perpendicular to B0 that are measured in the experiment by induced voltage in the coil, which is subsequently amplified and demodulated. We can write them either as individual components Mx, M, or by a vector M+, which combines both of them. In the static field, the precession about B0 occurs with the Larmor frequency w0 = /B0. If we neglect those processes which dampen the amplitude of the rotating transverse magnetization as precession proceeds, this already describes the frequency that we pick up with our receiver coil, and it is the third and perhaps the most important of our three fundamental equations of NMR  

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