High Res Magnetic Resonance Imaging In Nanometer Scale
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Posted on Mar 09, 2018, 7 p.m.
New techniques have been developed by researchers at the University of Waterloo bringing magnetic resonance scale with unprecedented resolution that will open pathways to advances in understandings of new materials, proteins, and virus particles that cause diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
University of Waterloo used a new type of hardware and numerical algorithms to implement high precision spin control that allowed imaging of proton spins with resolution below 2nm, which could revolutionize traditional MRI medical imaging enhancing understands of the function and structure of biological systems, however this technology is limited to millimetre resolution.
This development extends the capability of Magnetic Resonance Force Microscopy which is an extra sensitive technique for nanometer scale MRI, by combining it with the newly found greater ability to precisely control atomic spins. Powerful capabilities of MRI to the nanometer scale are extended, providing a new lens to view functions and structures of complex biomolecules.
Now that there is a higher degree of spin control the well developed MRI techniques can be applied on an incredible small scale, opening up unprecedented access to new understandings of complex biomolecules says Professor Raffi Budakian.
Materials provided by University of Waterloo.
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Journal Reference:
William Rose, Holger Haas, Angela Q. Chen, Nari Jeon, Lincoln J. Lauhon, David G. Cory, and Raffi Budakian. High-resolution nanoscale solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Phys. Rev. X, 2018 [link]
