Biophysica and medical aspects of fast NMR-imaging.
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging is a promising new technique for non-invasive medical diagnosis. Following a decade of technical improvements and preliminary medical experiences, the measuring time of several minutes remained the major drawback of the method. The recent development of a fast NMR-imaging technique, the so-called FLASH (Fast Low Angle SHot) method, opens a new field of medical applications. This article deals with a few applications and aspects of FLASH imaging. Using the technique cross-sectional images can be taken within a few seconds without loss in spatial resolution. Therefore dynamic investigations of the function of internal organs and images of blood vessels become possible. Furthermore three-dimensional volume imaging of the whole object provides the full anatomical information. FLASH imaging is also applicable in combination with localized NMR-spectroscopy. Thus, biochemical information from NMR-spectroscopy and structural and functional information from NMR-tomography can easily be combined.
Haase
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Max-Planck-Institut für biophysikalische Chemie, Göttingen, FRG.
Matthaei
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D005583:Fourier Analysis; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D013997:Time Factors