Low-cost low-field NMR and MRI: Instrumentation and applications

Published: Monday, 25 January 2021 - 00:00 UTC

Author: Thorsten Maly

Michal, Carl A. “Low-Cost Low-Field NMR and MRI: Instrumentation and Applications.” Journal of Magnetic Resonance 319 (October 2020): 106800.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmr.2020.106800.

While NMR and MRI are often thought of as expensive techniques requiring large institutional investment, opportunities for low-cost, low-field NMR and MRI abound. We discuss a number of approaches to performing magnetic resonance experiments with inexpensive, easy to find or build components, aimed at applications in industry, education, and research. Opportunities that aim to make NMR accessible to a broad community are highlighted. We describe and demonstrate some projects from our laboratory, including a new prototype instrument for measurements at frequencies up to $200 kHz and demonstrate its application to the study of the rapidly advancing technique known as inhomogeneous magnetization transfer imaging, a promising method for characterizing myelin in vivo.