Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and imaging can be used to investigate, noninvasively, a wide range of biological processes in systems as diverse as protein solutions, single cells, isolated perfused organs, and tissues in vivo. It is also possible to combine different NMR techniques enabling metabolic, anatomical, and physiological information to be obtained in the same experiment. This review provides a simple overview of the basic principles of NMR and outlines both the advantages and disadvantages of NMR spectroscopy and imaging. A few examples of potential applications of NMR spectroscopy and imaging are presented, which demonstrate the range of questions that can be asked using these techniques. The potential impact of using
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The phenomenon of NMR was first discovered in the 1940s and was primarily the domain of physicists (Bloch et al. 1946; Purcell et al. 1946). During the next 50 yr or so, applications of NMR developed rapidly and were used first by chemists. The use of NMR to study the structure of proteins and other biological molecules was markedly improved in the late 1960s with the development of superconducting magnets and the implementation of Fourier transform NMR. However, it was not until the mid-1970s that the first applications of NMR to the study of metabolism in living biological systems were reported (Berden et al. 1974; Burt et al. 1976a,b; Hoult et al. 1974; Moon and Richards 1973; Sequin and Scott 1974). At approximately the same time, it was demonstrated that the use of magnetic field gradients could be used to encode NMR signals spatially (Lauterbur 1973), and thus the concept of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI1) was born. Soon thereafter, MR images of the human body were obtained (Andrew et al. 1977; Hinshaw et al. 1977), and as early as 1980, the evaluation of MRI as a clinically useful imaging modality had …show more content…
We provide this broad, albeit simplified, description because we believe it includes enough depth to make the subsequent discussions intelligible without confusing the reader with the details of NMR theory. A more complete classical description as well as a quantum mechanical understanding of NMR and MRI can be found in the following literature: (1) general (Blackband 1995; Gadian 1995); (2) NMR (Abragam 1961; Ernst et al. 1987; Farrar and Becker 1971; Harris 1986; Schlicter 1978); and (3) MRI (Foster and Hutchinson 1987; Mansfield and Morris 1982; Partain et al. 1988; Stark and Bradley 1999; Wehrli et al.
The phenomenon of NMR was first discovered in the 1940s and was primarily the domain of physicists (Bloch et al. 1946; Purcell et al. 1946). During the next 50 yr or so, applications of NMR developed rapidly and were used first by chemists. The use of NMR to study the structure of proteins and other biological molecules was markedly improved in the late 1960s with the development of superconducting magnets and the implementation of Fourier transform NMR. However, it was not until the mid-1970s that the first applications of NMR to the study of metabolism in living biological systems were reported (Berden et al. 1974; Burt et al. 1976a,b; Hoult et al. 1974; Moon and Richards 1973; Sequin and Scott 1974). At approximately the same time, it was demonstrated that the use of magnetic field gradients could be used to encode NMR signals spatially (Lauterbur 1973), and thus the concept of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI1) was born. Soon thereafter, MR images of the human body were obtained (Andrew et al. 1977; Hinshaw et al. 1977), and as early as 1980, the evaluation of MRI as a clinically useful imaging modality had …show more content…
We provide this broad, albeit simplified, description because we believe it includes enough depth to make the subsequent discussions intelligible without confusing the reader with the details of NMR theory. A more complete classical description as well as a quantum mechanical understanding of NMR and MRI can be found in the following literature: (1) general (Blackband 1995; Gadian 1995); (2) NMR (Abragam 1961; Ernst et al. 1987; Farrar and Becker 1971; Harris 1986; Schlicter 1978); and (3) MRI (Foster and Hutchinson 1987; Mansfield and Morris 1982; Partain et al. 1988; Stark and Bradley 1999; Wehrli et al.