SIMULATION OF DIFFUSIONALLY ENHANCED NMR MICROSCOPY

Cornell University Ithaca, Ithaca NY

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Abstract

In the field of NMR microscopy, obtaining images of objects with features smaller than several microns is a highly nontrivial goal. Such a goal, however, is acutely motivated by problems of cell biology and its many associated fields as well as problems from materials science. Inadequate sensitivity is a primary culprit and many investigators have devised creative methods to address it. Inadequate resolution is also a culprit; for semi-fluid systems, translational diffusion within compartmentalized geometries typically leads to motion-dependent distortions to images. The method of Diffusional Enhancement of Signal Intensity and REsolution, or DESIRE, has been introduced to respond to these issues. DESIRE couples the saturated spin population of a 'rare' probing region with an initially unsaturated 'abundant' reservoir by diffusion through space. This kind of NMR microscopy by manipulation by populations is unprecedented in the existing literature. Simulations will provide insight into many characteristic physical events which cannot be directly observed and stimulate the continuing development of DESIRE.