SEMCAD X in Nature

Travelling-wave nuclear magnetic resonance

David O. Brunner¹, Nicola De Zanche¹, Jürg Fröhlich², Jan Paska² & Klaas P. Pruessmann¹

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is one of the most versatile experimental methods in chemistry, physics and biology, providing insight into the structure and dynamics of matter at the molecular scale. Its imaging variant—magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)—is widely used to examine the anatomy, physiology and metabolism of the human body. NMRsignal detection is traditionally based on Faraday induction6 in one or multiple radio-frequency resonators that are brought into close proximity with the sample. Alternative principles involving structuredmaterial flux guides, superconducting quantum interference devices, atomic magnetometers, Hall probes or magnetoresistive elements have been explored. However, a common feature of all NMR implementations until now is that they rely on close coupling between the detector and the object under investigation. Here we show that NMR can also be excited and detected by longrange interaction, relying on travelling radio-frequency waves sent and received by an antenna. One benefit of this approach is more uniform coverage of samples that are larger than the wavelength of the NMR signal—an important current issue in MRI of humans at very high magnetic fields. By allowing a significant distance between the probe and the sample, travelling-wave interaction also introduces new possibilities in the design of NMR experiments and systems.

¹ Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University of Zürich and ETH Zürich, Gloriastrasse 35, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
² Laboratory for Electromagnetic Fields and Microwave Electronics, ETH Zürich, Gloriastrasse 35, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland

Nature 457, 994-998 (19 February 2009)

See full text in Nature.com.