Abstract
Recent patents show that ultrahigh Magnetic field, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) microscopy is emerging as bioimaging tool to study metabolic events and protein structure-functional characterization in the small animals and pure proteins in solutions. 900 MHz NMR magnet design characteristics were reviewed and imaging was done for high resolution rat skin, heart, mice kidney using NMR microscopy technique. Superparamagnetic iron-oxide bound avidin-polystyrene coated with anti-troponin (SPIOT) nanoparticles as imaging contrast agent was used to enhance contrast. 900 MHz NMR microscopy provides structural microscopic details and can detect the nanoparticle targeted heart muscle fiber orientation by deposits of nanoparticles. 900 MHz microscopy was done for imaging phantom, heart, skin, kidneys. Anti-troponin was bound with polymer coated avidin-iron oxide complex to inject in rat to image the excised heart. Fast spin echo and fast gradient echo imaging techniques were used for T2-weighted rat heart. After imaging, rat hearts were processed for histology. First time available 900 MHz NMR system was more suitable for longer data acquisition at room temperature with enhanced SNR, MR signal intensity, and high resolution in less time. The imager generated skin, kidney, and heart images with visible muscle fiber orientation and comparable with histology details. The present paper is an overview with available patents on 900 MHz NMR spectrometer to convert into microscopic imager to generate high MR signal intensity and high resolution images with possibility on 1000 MHz field. The imager was a suitable research tool for microscopy, protein structural characterization and drug therapeutic monitoring.
Keywords: 900 MHz NMR, 21 Tesla imager, mice kidney, skin, rat heart, microscopy, NMR magnet design, metabolic events, MR visible water distribution mapping, transverse relaxation constants, fast data acquisition technique, quench reduction, Wide Bore Magnet Technology, superparamagnetic iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles, cardiac damage targeting techniques, animal microimaging coils
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