Rotating Field
Rotating Permanent Magnets for NMR and MRI of heterogeneous systems

The goal of this project is to establish the foundations for
the next generation diagnostic magnetic resonance for in-vivo
studies of biochemical processes. Magnetic resonance, unlike
other techniques, probes in a non-invasive manner the local
structure and dynamics of chemical and biological
function. Many systems (e.g. organisms) are however
heterogeneous and, currently, studies by high-resolution NMR
spectroscopy necessitate fast sample rotation (thousands of
revolutions per second) at the so-called “magic angle” with the
magnetic field. Practical, scientific and ethical issues are
raised when we extrapolate this technique to small animals or
even to living cell cultures. We aim to push the technology
of magnetic resonance to the next level by introducing
rotating magnetic fields around static samples. Rotating magnets capable of offering ultra high-resolution NMR and MRI will be built and used to acquire metabolic signatures from living organisms at cellular and macroscopic level of observation.
This research was initiated with the R-EVOLUTION-M-R
project (for Rotating Evolution Magnetic Resonance),
generously funded in 2008 by the European Research Council
(Starting Grant). The initial aim of our project was to
design and built uniform permanent magnets producing a strong
magnetic field, tilted with respect to the clear bore of the
magnet. An innovative design of such titled permanent magnets
has been demonstrated in [1]. This designed was first
realized in small scale prototypes that allowed us to
demonstrate magic angle field spinning on static samples of
liquid crystals. Since, the first preclinical spinning
MRI magnet is shown on the figure above. The project has reached the point were rapidly
rotating uniform magnets and associated MR instrumentation
are operational. We are currently recording high-resolution
1H NMR spectra under rapid magnet (1.0 Tesla)
rotation. Progress is undeway !
References:
[1] Sakellariou, D.; Hugon, C.; Guiga, A.; Aubert, G.; Cazaux, S. & Hardy, P. Permanent magnet assembly producing a strong tilted homogeneous magnetic field: Towards magic angle field spinning NMR and MRI. Magn. Reson. Chem., 2010, 48, 903-908