What is NMR imaging?
A new technique for obtaining cross-sectional pictures through the human body without exposing the patient to ionizing radiation is nuclear magnetic resonance imaging. NMR imaging not only yields physical information comparable in many ways to the information supplied by a CAT scan but also promises to discriminate more sensitively between healthy and diseased tissue. This is founded on the well-established ability of NMR spectroscopy to elucidate the intricate structures of organic molecules and to provide insight into dynamic chemical processes. For several years biochemists have exploited NMR techniques to monitor metabolic reactions in animals and human beings. It is the recent development of methods for presenting NMR information in pictorial form that is now providing clinicians with a powerful diagnostic tool. A more technical explanation of how it works The experimental foundations of NMR spectroscopy were laid by scientists at Stanford University and Harvard University more th
