Using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Sharpest Microscopic Images

摘要

When it comes to technology that gets the best images of the most minute particles, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) top the list. Now, a research team based at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has been able to use these technologies to deliver results that are better than ever before-and faster, too. Chemist Alexander Pines is the head of a research team that used a combination of remote instrumentation, JPEG-style image compression algorithms, and other enhancements to use NMR/MRI to image materials flowing through mi-crofluidic "lab on a chip" devices. They used their experimental approach to then zoom in on microscopic objects of interest, with spatial and time resolutions that they called "unprecedented." Pines is an internationally recognteed leader in the development of NMR technology and holds joint appointments with the Berkeley Lab and the University of California at Berkeley. The Berkeley Lab is a US Department of Energy National Laboratory managed by the University of California.