Tesis sobre el tema "Magnetisk resonans"

För denna avhandling har en första prototyp av en rörlig gummihand tillverkats, där endast pekfingret rör sig. En gummihand (rubber hand på engelska) är en konstgjord hand som används inom studier av kroppsuppfattning och ägande, vilka utgör ett viktigt område inom studier av människans medvetande. Forskare kan skapa hos testdeltagare illusionen av att en konstgjord hand är en del av en deras kropp. För att förstärka illusionen så kan en kosmetisk proteshandske användas. Ytterligare en del av kroppsbilden är känslan av att orsaka en händelse i den yttre världen. En rörlig gummihand är ett värdefullt verktyg för att studera känslan av både orsakandeoch ägande, som kan hållas isär ändå. Tanken är att en testdeltagare ska kunna fjärrstyra denrörliga gummihanden. För att studera ändringar i hjärnans aktivitet under illusionens gång så måste deltagaren befinna sig i en MR-skanner och undergå en så kallad funktionell MRundersökning. Därför behövde alla delar och komponenter i den rörliga gummihanden vara MRkompatibla.
For this thesis, an initial prototype for an actuated rubber hand with the index finger actuated, was designed and manufactured. A rubber hand is an artificial hand used for studies of body image and ownership, an integral part of research on consciousness in human beings. With an artificial hand, researchers can create an illusion in which a subject can believe that the artificial hand is part of their body. To increase the immersion into the illusion, a cosmetic prosthetic glove can be used for added realism. Another integral part of body image is the sense of agency, in which a subject believes to be the source of an event in the external world. To study agency, while separating agency from ownership, a moving rubber hand is a useful tool. The idea is that a subject is to control the moving rubber hand remotely with their own hand. To be able to study the changes in brain activity during the onset of the illusion, the subject needs to be in an MRI scanner and undergo a so called functional MRI analysis. Therefore, all the materials and components in the actuated rubber hand needed to be MRI compatible.

Sammanfattning Inledning: Den årliga incidensen för pankreascancer är 9 per 100 000 invånare. En tidig diagnos ger förbättrad 5-årsöverlevnad men botar fortfarande få patienter. De senaste åren har den dåliga prognosen förbättras tack vare utvecklingen inom bilddiagnostiken. Författaren i denna litteraturstudie har valt att jämföra multidetektor datortomografi (MDCT) och magnetisk resonans (MR) med kontrastmedel för diagnostik av pankreastumör vid misstänkt pankreascancer. Syfte: Syftet med denna litteraturstudie är att undersöka vilken radiologisk undersökningsmetod som är att föredra vid diagnostisering av pankreascancer, MDCT eller MR. Frågeställning: Är det MDCT eller MR som är bäst vid diagnostisering av pankreascancer? Metod: En litteraturstudie baserad på 12 antal artiklar som är funna i databasen PubMed. Resultat: MDCT och MR har likvärdig diagnostisk säkerhet att upptäcka pankreastumör samt påvisa kärlinväxt och förutse operabilitet. Båda metoderna har en jämförbar hög noggrannhet för karakterisering av förändringens aggressivitet. Slutsats: Såväl MDCT och MR är likvärdiga två mycket bra radiologiska metoder för att diagnostisera pankreascancer. MDCT har fortfarande en större tillgänglighet är MR men dess nackdel är man utsätter patienterna för joniserande strålning. MR är därför en metod att föredra och med stor sannolikhet kommer dess tillgänglighet att öka kraftigt i framtiden.

MRI is one of the biggest and most growing imaging techniques. Even though itis one of the most harmless technologies a big portion of the patients experienceanxiety during the exam. By improving the patient experience unnecessary psychologicalstress for the patient can be prevented, the patient movement wouldthen decrease and therefore the imaging can be improved without changing thetechnique. Participant observations at four dierent MRI departments werecompleted with six interviews with radiographers and technical MRI personnelin order to get insight in the work around an MRI exam and the problemsthat patients experience. The data collection resulted in three improvementareas: the atmosphere of the waiting room, the atmosphere of the MRI roomand the headset used by the patient during the MRI exam. These improvementareas were paired up with solution suggestions which were then controlled andcommented by one MRI specialist, one MRI developer and one radiographer tovalidate the suggestions. The conclusion was that there is already much doneto improve the environment in the MRI room, even though more can be done.The waiting room, on the other hand ,has not been an object for studies orfor improvements before. Therefore more calculation about how big of a protit could be, to improving the atmosphere in the waiting room, should be doneso one knows how much resources one can be put into that improvement area.Lastly there are potential solutions for how to create a much better headset butbecause the generated solutions in this area are so technically challenging moreresearch has to be done before it can be realised.
MR är en av de största och mest växande medicinsk bildgivande teknikerna som finns. Även om tekniken är helt ofarlig är det många patienter som lider av ångest kopplad till undersökningen. Genom att förbättra patientens upplevelse kan man förbygga den ångesten, då kommer också patienten kunna ligga mera still under undersökningen och därför kommer bilderna kunna förbättras utan att ändra tekniken.Datainsamlingen bestod av deltagande observationer på fyra olika röntgenavdelningar tillsammans med sex stycken intervjuer med både röntgensköterskor och personal som jobbar med MR-tekniken. Detta för att få en inblick i jobbet runt en MR undersökning och problemtiken som patienterna upplever. Datainsamlingen resulterade i tre olika förbättringsområden: väntrummet, undersökningsrummet och headsetet som patienten använder under MR-undersökningen. Dessa förbättringsområden parades ihop med förbättringsförs-lag och validerades sedan med en MR speciallist, en utvecklare och en röntgensköterska.Slutsatsen var att det idag görs mycket för att förbättre miljön i undersökningsrummet, även om mycket mer kan göras. Väntrummet, och andra sidan, har inte varit föremål för varken studier eller förbättringar och därför behöver uträkningar göras på hur stor vinst det skulle vara med en förbättrad miljö där för att veta hur mycket resurser som kan läggas på det. Till sist kan det konstateras att det finns potentiella lösningar för hur ett bättre headset skulle kunna skapas, men eftersom de förslagen som genererats i den här studien är så tekniskt avancerade behövs mer forskning för att kunna realisera lösningarna.

High-resolution NMR spectroscopy has, during the last two decades, had an increasing impact in biological and biochemical research. Rapid advances have led to improvements in sensitivity and dispersion of the spectra and have allowed more detailed assignment and monitoring of endogenous biochemical molecules. One of the latest implementations has been a technique known as high-resolution magic angle spinning (HR-MAS) NMR spectroscopy which has made it possible to obtain high-resolution proton spectra of intact tissue and cells. Simultaneous detection of a large number of metabolites by NMR spectroscopy has been successfully applied to investigate disordered metabolism for a numerous of diseases and toxic processes.

The objectives in the present work have been to evaluate different ¹H NMR spectroscopy protocols as analytical tools in eye research, and further use these protocols to extract and interpret information on metabolic changes in the eye induced by external pathological stimuli. Special focus has been paid to changes in the lens and the development of cataracts.

The ¹H NMR spectra of intact lenses and eye tissue extracts in present thesis showed an extensive picture of NMR detectable metabolites. In addition to the detailed analysis of extracts from cornea, lens and aqueous humour, this work has created a basis for implementation and interpretation of HR-MAS ¹H NMR spectroscopy on intact lens tissue. Several significant changes in the metabolic content in cornea, aqueous humour, and lens after alkali-burns to the eye were detected and showed how careful ¹H NMR spectroscopy analysis of tissue extracts provided new information (quantitative and qualitative) on the metabolic reaction pattern in the anterior eye segment in relation to eye alkali-burn injuries.

HR-MAS studies on lenses exposed in vivo to different ultraviolet-B doses did not reveal any dose-response relationship for the metabolic changes. However, significant concentration changes for most of the observed metabolites seven days post exposure demonstrated that closeto- threshold UVB radiation had great impact on the metabolites in the lens. Further time dependency studies of metabolic changes in rat lens after UVB radiation showed that significant changes in metabolite concentrations were subsequent to lens opacity development. Long-term steroid treatment (36 days) seemed to have greater impact on the metabolic changes compared to the UVB-induced changes 24 hours after UVB radiation. Even though no obvious cataract was detected after the combined treatment of steroids and UVB radiation, significant changes were observed for several metabolites.

Paper III is reprinted with kind permission from Elsevier, sciencedirect.com

Magnetisation Transfer Contrast (MTC) is a well-established magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast-generating mechanism, and is widely used for clarifying MR-invisible macromolecular information indirectly via MR-detectable free protons using an offresonance pre-saturation radiofrequency (RF) pulse (or MT pulse). As a result of MT pulse irradiation, magnetisation between both proton pools is exchanged and the signal intensity of mobile protons is decreased in relation to the amount of macromolecules. MTC MRI is normally implemented at a fixed magnetic field; however, it may be useful to evaluate changes of the MT effect as a function of magnetic field (B0). In order to explore fielddependent MTC experiments using a single MR instrument, two techniques are required, which enable simultaneously shifting both B0 and the resonance frequency of an RF coil (f0) during MT pulse irradiation and returning them to the original condition during MR data acquisition. Switching of B0 is achieved by fast field-cycling (FFC). FFC is a novel technique allowing B0 to shift between levels rapidly during the pulse sequence. This makes it possible to perform a number of beneficial field-dependent studies and/or to provide new MR contrast mechanisms. Switching of f0 requires an actively frequencyswitchable RF coil. This coil was designed and constructed for frequencies at and below 2.5 MHz proton Larmor frequency. The design employed PIN diodes, and enabled switching f0 between five different values. Using these techniques and tools, fielddependent MTC experiments were carried out with a control sample and samples with different concentrations of agarose gel. Due to the absence of macromolecules in the control, the MT effect was almost zero, whereas the MT effect observed in agarose samples increased with increasing concentration of macromolecules. Furthermore, MT effects ((for a given set of MT pulse conditions) were larger at higher B0.

Thesis (M.S. in Electrical Engineering) Naval Postgraduate School, June 1997.
Thesis advisors, Richard W. Adler, Jovan E. Lebaric. Includes bibliographical references (p. 45). Also available online.

Höchste Magnetfelder haben sich zu einem unverzichtbaren Werkzeug der Festkörperphysik entwickelt. Sie werden insbesondere verwendet, um die elektronischen Eigenschaften von modernen Materialien zu erforschen. Da Magnetfelder oberhalb von 45 Tesla nicht mehr mit statischen (z.B. supraleitenden) Feldern zu erreichen sind, haben sich weltweit verschiedene Labore auf die Erzeugung gepulster Magnetfelder mit angestrebten Maximalwerten von 100 Tesla spezialisiert. In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden Anwendungsmöglichkeiten der kernmagnetischen Resonanz (NMR) in gepulsten Magnetfeldern aufgezeigt. Es ist gelungen, die starke Zeitabhängigkeit der gepulsten Magnetfelder mittels NMR präzise zu vermessen. Die genaue Kenntnis des Magnetfelds nach dem Puls ermöglicht, die Zeitabhängigkeit aus den Daten zu entfernen, sodass auch eine kohärente Signal-Mittelung möglich ist. Davon ausgehend werden erstmalig Messungen der chemischen Verschiebung, der Knight Shift, der Spin-Gitter-Relaxationsrate 1/T1 und der Spin-Spin-Relaxationsrate 1/T2 diskutiert. Schließlich werden die im Zusammenhang mit gepulsten Magnetfeldern erarbeiteten Gleichungen in vereinfachter Form zur genauen Messung und Analyse des freien Induktions-Zerfalls von 19F Kernspins in Calciumfluorid verwendet. Durch Messung des Zerfalls über sechs Größenordnungen wird eine genaue Analyse bezüglich einer neuartigen Theorie ermöglicht, welche den Zerfall basierend auf der Annahme mikroskopischen Chaos\' erklärt. Diese Theorie hat das Potenzial, zu einem tieferen Verständnis von Quantenchaos in makroskopischen Vielteilchensystemen zu führen.

This thesis is focused on the design, synthesis and characterization of magnetite-ionic copolymer complexes as nanocarriers for drug delivery and magnetic resonance imaging. The polymers included phosphonate and carboxylate-containing graft and block copolymers. Oleic-acid coated magnetite nanoparticles (8-nm and 16-nm diameters) were investigated. Cisplatin and carboplatin were used as sample drugs. The potentials of the magnetite-ionomer complexes as dual drug delivery carriers and magnetic resonance imaging agents were evaluated. An acrylate-functional poly(ethylene oxide) macromonomer and hexyl (and propyl) ammonium bisphosphonate methacrylate monomers were synthesized. Conventional free radical copolymerizations were conducted to synthesize the graft copolymers. The acrylate-functional poly(ethylene oxide) macromonomer was also used to form graft copolymers with tert-butyl acrylate. Block ionomers containing poly(tert-butyl acrylate) were synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization, then the tert-butyl groups were removed to afford anions. All the monomers and polymers were characterized by 1H NMR to confirm their structures and assess their compositions. Phosphonate-containing polymers were also characterized by 31P NMR. Magnetite nanoparticles (8-nm diameter) were synthesized by reducing Fe(acac)3 with benzyl alcohol. The 16-nm diameter magnetite was synthesized by thermal decomposition of an iron oleate precursor in trioctylamine as a high-boiling solvent. The iron-oleate precursor was synthesized with iron (III) chloride hexahydrate and sodium oleate with mixed solvents. TEM images of the magnetite were obtained. Magnetite-ionomer complexes were synthesized by binding a portion of the anions (carboxylate or phosphonate) on the copolymers onto the surfaces the magnetite. The remainder of the anions was used to bind with cisplatin and carboplatin via chelation. Physicochemical properties of the complexes were measured by dynamic light scattering. All the complexes with different polymers and magnetite nanoparticles displayed relatively uniform sizes and good size distributions. The magnetite-ionomer complexes displayed good colloidal stabilities in simulated physiological conditions for at least 24 hours. Those graft and block copolymer-magnetite complexes may be good candidates as drug carriers for delivery applications. After cisplatin and carboplatin loading, the sizes of the complexes increased slightly and the zeta potential decreased slightly, which indicated that the loadings were successful. Minimal loss of iron was found, signaling that the binding strengths between the magnetite and the anions of the graft copolymers were strong. 8.7 wt% of platinum was found in the cisplatin loaded complexes and 6.9% in the carboplatin loaded complexes. The results indicated that the magnetite-graft ionomer complexes were capable of loading drugs. Drug release studies were performed at pH 4.6 and 7.4 to mimick endosomal conditions and the physiological environment. Sustained release of drugs was observed. This further indicated the potential for using the magnetite-ionomer complexes as drug carriers. Transverse relaxivities of the magnetite-ionomer complexes with and without drugs were measured and compared to a commercial T2-weighted iron MRI contrast agent-Feridex®. All the complexes had higher relaxivities compared to Feridex®. Thus, the magnetite-ionomer complexes are promising candidates for dual magnetic resonance imaging and drug delivery.Moreover, the aqueous dispersion of the complexes was found to heat upon exposure to an AC magnetic field, thus potentially allowing heat-induced drug release.
Master of Science

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) has been a fundamental player in the studies of superconducting materials for many decades. This local probe technique allows for the study of the static electronic properties as well as the low energy excitations of the electrons in the normal and the superconducting state. On that account it has also been widely applied to Fe-based superconductors from the very beginning of their discovery in February 2008. This dissertation comprises some of these very first NMR results, reflecting the unconventional nature of superconductivity and its strong link to magnetism in the investigated compounds LaO(1-x)F(x)FeAs and LiFeAs.

[Truncated abstract] Clinical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners were used to investigate the measurement and imaging of ferrimagnetic particle concentrations in biological tissues in vivo. The presence of ferrimagnetic particles tends to increase the proton transverse relaxation rate (R2) of water protons in tissue. A quantitative image of R2 can be generated using a series of single spin echo magnetic resonance images acquired using clinical MRI scanners and analysing the images using techniques based on that reported by Clark and St. Pierre (2000). If ferrimagnetic particles have a high enough concentration, there is a monotonic relationship between particle concentration and R2; therefore an image of R2 gives a map of the ferrimagnetic particle concentration in the tissue. These techniques were used to investigate the feasibility of in vivo measurement of the concentration and distribution of both synthetic and biogenic ferrimagnetic particles in tissue. Rabbit liver was loaded with ferrimagnetic particles of ?-Fe2O3 (designed for magnetic hyperthermia treatment of liver tumours) by injecting various doses of a suspension of the particles into the hepatic artery in vivo. R2 images of the livers in vivo, excised, and dissected were generated from a series of single spin-echo images. Mean R2 values for samples of ferrimagnetic-particle-loaded liver dissected into approximate 1 cm cubes were found to linearly correlate with tissue iron concentration over the range from approximately 0.1 to at least 2.7 mg Fe/g dry tissue when measured at room temperature. Changing the temperature of ferrimagnetic-particle-loaded samples of liver from 1?C to 37?C had no observable effect on tissue R2 values. However, a small but significant decrease in R2 was found for control samples containing no ferrimagnetic material on raising the temperature from 1?C to 37?C. Both chemically measured iron ii concentrations and mean R2 values for rabbit livers with implanted tumours tended to be higher than those measured for tumour-free liver. This study indicates that tissue R2 measurement and imaging by nuclear magnetic resonance may have a useful role in magnetic hyperthermia therapy protocols for the treatment of liver cancer. In order to investigate the use of clinical MRI scanners to measure biogenic ferrimagnetic particle concentrations in human brain tissue, agar gel based phantoms containing ferrimagnetic particles were made in order to determine the lower concentration detection limit for such particles in a homogenous medium. Magnetite/maghemite nanoparticles were synthesized in the presence of either dextran or polyvinyl alcohol, yielding cluster- and necklace-like aggregates, respectively. Magnetization, Mossbauer spectroscopy, and microscopy measurements indicated that the arrangement of the particles within the aggregates affects the magnetic properties of the particles resulting in smaller particles in the clusters having higher superparamagnetic blocking temperatures than larger particles in the necklaces.

Cell biological exposure studies in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) environment, where a complex mixture of strong magnetic fields are present, have attracted considerable interest in recent years. The outcome of such studies might depend strongly on the conditions, for example exposure parameters and spatial variations of exposure. The aim of this thesis has been to give a detailed description of how the radio frequency (RF) magnetic field varies with position and sequence choice within an MRI bore from a patient perspective and to highlight the need of better consistency in future research. Method: A straightforward theoretical description on the contribution to the RF magnetic field from a birdcage coil is given. A one dimensional coaxial loop antenna has been used as a probe to measure spatial variations of the RF magnetic field in a 1.5T MRI scanner. An exposure matrix containing RF magnetic field strength (H1-field) amplitudes in three dimensions was constructed and used to study several clinical protocols and sequences. A qualified correspondence measurement was also made on a 3T MRI scanner. Results: Around isocenter, for a common field-of-view (FOV), changes in exposure conditions were small; however, rapid changes of exposure conditions occurred upon approaching the end rings. The dominating H1-field component switched from lying in the xy-plane to pointing the z-direction and was roughly 3 times larger than in isocenter. Practical difficulties indicate even larger differences at positions not measurable with the equipment at hand. The strongest H1-field component was 32.6 A/m at position (x,y,z)=(-24,8,24) cm from the isocenter. Conclusions: Machine parameters such as repetition time, echo time and flip angle have little to do with actual exposure. Specic absorption rate (SAR) values correlated well with the square of measured root-mean-square (RMS) values of the magnetic field (B1,RMS) but not with peak values of the magnetic field (B1,peak), indicating that peak values are not unlikely to be part of compromising factors in previous contradictory exposure research on genotoxicity. Furthermore exposure conditions depend strongly on position and unfavorable situations may occur in the periphery of the birdcage coil. Potentially elevated risks for conducting surfaces, for example arms or external fixations, in the proximity of the end rings, are proposed. Aside from spatial variation consideration on which type of geometry exposed cell-biological samples are placed in should be held since eddy currents, hot-spots and proper SAR depend on geometry. Conditions may vary considerably between in-vitro, ex-vivo and in-vivo studies since geometries of test tubes, petri dishes and humans differ.

The idea of miniaturizing devices down to the nanoscale where quantum ffeffects become relevant demands a detailed understanding of the interplay between classical and quantum properties. Therefore, characterization of newly produced nanoscale materials is a very important part of the research in this fifield. Studying structural and magnetic properties of nano- and molecular magnets and the interplay between these properties reveals new interesting effects and suggests ways to control and optimize the respective material. The main task of this thesis is investigating the magnetic properties of molecular magnetic clusters and magnetic nanoparticles recently synthesized by several collaborating groups. This thesis contains two main parts focusing on each of these two topics. In the first part the fundamental studies on novel metal-organic molecular complexes is presented. Several newly synthesized magnetic complexes were investigated by means of different experimental techniques, in particular, by electron spin resonance spectroscopy. Chapter 1 in this part provides the theoretical background which is necessary for the interpretation of the effects observed in single molecular magnetic clusters. Chapter 2 introduces the experimental techniques applied in the studies. Chapter 3 contains the experimental results and their discussion. Firstly, the magnetic properties of two Ni-based complexes are presented. The complexes possess different ligand structures and arrangements of the Ni-ions in the metal cores. This difffference dramatically affffects the magnetic properties of the molecules such as the ground state and the magnetic anisotropy. Secondly, a detailed study of the Mn2Ni3 single molecular magnet is described. The complex has a bistable magnetic ground state with a high spin value of S = 7 and shows slow relaxation and quantum tunnelling of the magnetization. The third section concentrates on a Mn(III)-based single chain magnet showing ferromagnetic ordering of the Mn-spins and a strong magnetic anisotropy which leads to a hysteretic behavior of the magnetization. The last section describes a detailed study of the static and dynamic magnetic properties of three Mn-dimer molecular complexes by means of static magnetization, continuous wave and pulse electron spin resonance measurements. The results indicate a systematic dependence of the magnetic properties on the nearest ligands surrounding of the Mn ions. The second part of the thesis addresses magnetic properties of nano-scaled magnets such as carbon nanotubes fifilled with magnetic materials and carbon-coated magnetic nanoparticles. These studies are eventually aiming at the possible application of these particles as agents for magnetic hyperthermia. In this respect, their behavior in static and alternating magnetic fifields is investigated and discussed. Moreover, two possible hyperthermia applications of the studied magnetic nanoparticles are presented, which are the combination of a hyperthermia agents with an anticancer drug and the possibility to spatially localize the hyperthermia effffect by applying specially designed static magnetic fifields.

The goal of this diploma thesis was to create a script in MATLAB, which is capable to load DICOM pictures, read the data in their headers and then select the right series for perfusion analysis. This analysis is based on detection of contrast fluid in bloodstream and tissue and right interpretation of concentration changes of this fluid in time. This work is trying to describe a way of building an ultimate system capable of autonomous tumor analysis and classification. In the end, there is an analysis of DICOM sample performed by created script.

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O Alouatta fusca é um primata do novo mundo com ampla distribuição na América do sul. A espécie é de grande importância para a população, pois é um importante sentinela de zoonoses, especialmente da febre amarela. Os estudos anatômicos descritivos realizados em primatas do velho mundo foram amplamente avaliados no século passado, porém os primatas do novo mundo como o Alouatta fusca não foram detalhadamente descritos. Assim sendo, no presente estudo foram utilizados oito encéfalos formolizados, três congelados e 10 animais hígidos. Os encéfalos formolizados foram devidamente dissecados para descrever a anatomia encefálica; os crânios congelados foram seccionados nos mesmos planos da imagens por ressonância magnética, para posterior pareamento e identificação das estruturas. Foram obtidas informações que podem ser utilizadas como base para o estudo das estruturas anatômicas encefálicas normais e de doenças, em centros de medicina veterinária de animais selvagens e/ou de primatas. Além de fornecer dados comparativos com a medicina humana, uma vez que estes animais vêm sendo utilizados como modelos experimentais, por possuírem características anatômicas mais semelhantes aos humanos que em animais domésticos
The Alouatta fusca is a new world primate with wide distribution in South America. The species has great importance for the population, because it is an important sentinel of zoonoses, especially of the yellow fever. Descriptive anatomical studies conducted in old world primates have been extensively evaluated in the past century, but the new world primates as Alouatta fusca were not described in detail. Therefore, in this study we used eight formolin fixed brains, three frozen brains and ten healthy animals. The formolin fixed brains were properly dissected to describe the brain anatomy; the frozen skulls were sectioned in the same planes of the magnetic resonance images for comparison and identification of the structures. The information obtained can be used as a basis for the study of normal brain anatomical structures and their diseases in veterinary medicine centers of wild animals and/or primates. In addition, this study provides comparative data for human medicine, since these animals have been used as experimental models because they have anatomical characteristics more similar to humans than domestic animals

The work described in this thesis was initiated in an attempt to overcome the limitations imposed upon NMR spectroscopy by magnetic field inhomogeneity in two specific areas: high resolution spectroscopy in isotropic liquids, and chemical shift resolved NMR imaging in isotropic liquids. In both cases magnetic field inhomogeneity may degrade the resolution of spectra to such an extent that no useful information can be obtained from them. In high resolution NMR spectroscopy it is necessary to be able to extract accurately the parameters present within the spectrum such as chemical shifts, coupling constants and peak areas. In chemical shift resolved imaging experiments the requirements are less stringent; and it is only necessary that the resonances of different chemical species be resolved. However, even the less stringent requirements of NMR imaging are often difficult to meet as the sample volumes required are often several orders of magnitude larger than those required in conventional high resolution NMR spectroscopy. The use of zero-quantum coherence has been investigated as a potential solution to the magnetic field inhomogeneity problem in both of these areas. Zero-quantum coherences are independent of magnetic field inhomogeneity and contain the parameters desired in both cases, though they are displayed in a way which differs from conventional NMR spectra. In this thesis, existing zero-quantum coherence experiments have been evaluated for use with inhomogeneous magnetic fields, and, where necessary, adapted for this purpose. Several completely new experiments have been developed for producing broad-band decoupled zero-quantum coherence spectra and also for presenting coupling constants and chemical shifts in a manner which is as close to conventional NMR spectra as possible, hence facilitating ease of use. Zero-quantum coherence has been evaluated as a tool for identifying unknown compounds and also for identifying the components of complex mixtures by "signature" recognition. Both decoupled and non-decoupled zero-quantum coherence experiments are adapted to provide imaging experiments which allow the separation of the images of different chemical species in inhomogeneous magnetic fields. The two-dimensional J-resolved experiment is also adapted for this purpose.
Science, Faculty of
Chemistry, Department of
Graduate

Wireless power transfer (WPT) technologies have become important for our everyday life. The most commonly used near-field WPT method is inductive coupling, which suffers from low efficiency and small range. The Strongly Coupled Magnetic Resonance (SCMR) method was developed recently, and it can be used to wirelessly transfer power with higher efficiency over a longer distance than the inductive coupling method. This dissertation develops new SCMR systems that have better performance compared to standard SCMR systems. Specifically, two new 3-D SCMR systems are designed to improve the angular misalignment sensitivity of WPT systems. Their power transfer efficiency for different angular misalignment positions are studied and analyzed. Prototypes are built for both systems and their performance is validated through measurement. Furthermore, new planar broadband conformal SCMR (CSCMR) systems are developed that maintain high efficiency while providing significantly larger bandwidth than standard CSCMR systems. Such broadband CSCMR systems are used here for the first time to simultaneously accomplish highly efficient wireless power transfer and high data rate communication through the same wireless link. These systems that combine wireless power and communication are expected to enable next-generation applications with battery-less and “power-hungry” sensors. Example applications include implantable and wearable sensors as well as embedded sensors for structural health monitoring.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, 1997.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-121).
by Howard Fred Sklar.
M.S.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Nuclear Engineering, 1999.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 96-100).
This thesis describes the design and applications of an improved Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) microscope, which permits MRI to study small sample sizes ( < 2mm) at high resolution (up to 2[mu]m). The effects of molecular diffusion and local variations in the magnetic susceptibility in NMR microscopy are described, which, along with the intrinsic low sensitivity of NMR, are the fundamental limitations to resolution. Molecular diffusion in the presence of a magnetization grating not only broadens the point spread function but also reduces the signal intensity. The significance of these effects depends strongly on the magnetic field gradient strengths and imaging protocols. A NMR microscope for a standard bore 14.lT magnet was developed, it is equipped with a highly efficient. solenoidal RF coil and three orthogonal gradients with strengths of 1260G / cm for Gz , 760G/cm for Gy , and 410G/cm for Gx at 15A. A modified CTI sequence is presented which incorporates strong pulsed gradients, Ernst angle excitation, CP coherent detection and reduced k-space sampling. It is the optimal pulse sequence for acquiring high-resolution ( < 5[mu]m) NMR images (best signal-to-noise ratio per unit time) when the effect of molecular diffusion is significant. It is demonstrated that this new sequence makes it possible to acquire images with a high resolution of 2[mu]m x 2[mu]m x 8[mu]m within a few hours. A wide variety of images have been acquired using the new microscope, and representative images are presented to demonstrate the potential of NMR microscopy as a new tool in developmental biology research. In particular, used in combination with other biological techniques, NMR microscopy can provide a robust, non-invasive, 3D imaging approach to quantifying changes in structure due for instance to radiative exposure, therapy, and natural growth or genetic modifications.
by Xiao-wu Tang.
Ph.D.

Orientador: Carlos Rettori
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Fisica Gleb Wataghin
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Resumo: Esta tese é o resultado da investigação de dois temas principais: o composto supercondutor MgB2 e o sistema semicondutor Ca1-xRxB6 dopado com terras raras R. O composto MgB2 é conhecido desde 1950, porém, só recentemente foi descoberto como sendo um supercondutor (tipo II) com uma temperatura crítica Tc @ 40 K. Esta descoberta realimentou o interesse nos materiais supercondutores não-óxidos, iniciando assim a procura por supercondutividade em vários outros compostos como, por exemplo, MgCNi3 e recentemente, diamante. A motivação do ponto de vista de Ressonância Paramagnética Eletrônica (RPE) se dá pela possibilidade de estudar o estado supercondutor misto numa ampla faixa de temperatura, via a ressonância dos elétrons de condução (CESR). Utilizando as freqüências de microondas de 4.1 GHz (banda S) e 9.5 GHz (banda X), o campo de ressonância (H r para g ~ 2:00) assume valores entre Hc1< Hr « Hirr £ Hc2 e, conseqüentemente, os elétrons de condução certamente estarão sondando a Distribuição de Campo Magnético Interno (DCMI) gerada pela rede de vórtices de MgB2. Com a atenção voltada às propriedades do estado misto deste supercondutor, apresentamos nesse trabalho a primeira, direta e não ambígua observação da DCMI, juntamente com o efeito de desancoramento da rede de linhas de fluxo. Determinamos a temperatura de desancoramento Tp (v), a qual separa o regime de movimento viscoso do regime de aprisionamento de vórtices. Também propomos um diagrama de fases supercondutor para a região de baixos campos magnéticos para nossa amostra estequiométrica. Comparativamente ao estudo do composto estequiométrico, estudamos amostras de Mg1-xB2(0 £ x £ 0.15). Para x ~ 0.15, encontramos a presença de duas linhas de ressonância, sugerindo uma possível segregação de fases. Além disso, a maior Tp encontrada, e o mais rápido alargamento e distorção da largura de linha do CESR no estado misto, comparados à amostra estequiométrica, são ambos consistentes com uma maior concentração de defeitos. Os hexaboretos RB6 (R = terra rara ou metais alcalinos terrosos) pertencem a uma classe de materiais que está sendo extensivamente estudada atualmente. Eles cristalizam numa rede cúbica simples tipo CsCl, e exibem um vasto universo de fascinantes propriedades físicas. Metais de bandas simples (LaB6), magnetos de momento local convencional (GdB6), sistemas de denso comportamento Kondo (CeB6) ou ainda ferromagnetismo (FM) de baixa densidade de portadores em sistemas com momentos localizados como EuB6, fazem parte deste grupo. Esta riqueza de fenômenos, combinada à simplicidade cristalográfica, torna os hexaboretos um sistema ideal para se estudar as propriedades magnéticas e eletrônicas destes compostos. Recentemente, foi encontrado que CaB6 dopado com impurezas de La 3+ (0.5%) exibe um FM (0.07 m B/La) em alta temperatura (Tc ~ 600 - 900 K), sem que os elementos constituintes tenham orbitais d ou f parcialmente preenchidos. Enorme esforço tanto teórico quanto experimental foi devotado para esclarecer esta intrigante propriedade, na tentativa de estabelecer a origem deste WF e seu relacionamento com a natureza condutora real de CaB6 dopado com R. Particularmente, encontramos em nosso estudo através da técnica de RPE em monocristais de CaB6 dopados com Gd 3+, que o processo de dopagem é não-homogêneo, apresentando diferentes regimes de concentração, inclusive coexistência de fases isolante e metálica. Este resultado sugere que uma abrupta mudança no ambiente local do Gd 3+ , associada à transição metal-isolante, pode estar ocorrendo. A configuração eletrônica de Eu 2+ é idêntica a do Gd 3+ (4f 7 , 8 S 7/2). No entanto, o efeito da dopagem de Gd 3+ e Eu 2+ em CaB6 é diferente: Eu 2+ tem a mesma valência de Ca 2+ enquanto Gd 3+ doa um elétron extra ao sistema, criando um estado doador tipo-hidrogênio. Acreditamos que a transição isolante/metal revelada pela forma de linha de RPE possa ser alcançada quando estes estados ligados de Gd doadores se sobrepõem e começam a formar uma rede percolativa. Desde que nem todos os sítios de Gd participam desta rede, uma coexistência de regiões metálicas e isolantes não é uma observação improvável, como observado em nossos resultados. De um outro lado, a substituição de Ca2+ por impurezas de Eu 2+ não produz um estado ligado doador, mas a invariância translacional quebrada da rede deve introduzir um estado localizado separado da banda de valência/condução. Supõe-se então que a dopagem de Eu 2+ forma uma banda de impurezas. No entanto, somente em um regime de muito alta concentração, estas impurezas formariam o estado percolativo, o que também encontra suporte em nossos resultados experimentais. Em contraste ao caso de CaB6, o composto EuB6 é um material semi-metálico bem estabelecido que apresenta um ordenamento FM em Tc » 15 K. Investigações das propriedades físicas de EuB6 foram realizadas essencialmente através de experimentos de RPE e de transporte. Nosso estudo mostrou que os comportamentos observados na largura de linha DH dos espectros de RPE, e na anisotropia da magneto-resistência, estão associados à presença de pólarons magnéticos e efeitos de superfície de Fermi, uma vez que esta última é de fato anisotrópica (elipsóides de revolução nos pontos X da Zona de Brillouin). Concluímos do estudo em Ca1-xRxB6 (R = Gd 3+ e Eu 2+ ) que, uma vez alcançado o estado percolativo (estado metálico), efeitos da anisotrópica superfície de Fermi podem ser observados através de DH, uma vez assumido que o processo de relaxação dominante é o mecanismo de espalhamento de spin eletrônico (spin-flip scattering). Para o caso particular de Eu 2+ em CaB6, efeitos polarônicos, a exemplo de EuB6, são também observados em DH
Abstract: This thesis results from the scientific investigation of two different systems: the MgB2 superconductor (SC) compound and the rare earth (R) doped Ca1-xRxB6 semiconductor material. The MgB2 compound is known since 1950, however, just recently discovered as a conventional (type II) SC with a critical temperature Tc @ 40 K. This discovery has revived the interest in non-oxides SC and initiated a search for superconductivity in related materials as, for exemple, MgCNi3. The motivation in the ESR point of view was the imprecedent possibility of studying the SC mixed-state in a wide temperature range by conduction electron spin resonance (CESR). Taking the 4.1 GHz (S band) and 9.5 GHz (X band) microwave frequencies, the resonance field (H r for g ~ 2:00) ranges between Hc1< Hr « Hirr £ Hc2 and, consequently, the conduction electrons will certainly probe the Internal Magnetic Field Distribution (IMFD) in the vortex lattice of MgB2. Focusing our attention on the properties of the mixed-state of this superconductor, we present in this work the first, direct and unambiguously observation of the IMFD together the flux line lattice depinning effects in MgB2. We have determined the depinning temperature Tp (v) which separates the viscous vortex motion regime to the pinning regime. Also, we have proposed a superconductor phase diagram for the low field region for our stoichiometric MgB2 sample. Comparatively to the stoichiometric sample study, we have studied Mg1-xB2 (0 £ x £ 0.15) samples. For x ~ 0.15, we found the presence of two resonance lines indicating phase segregation. Furthermore, the Tp found is higher than the obtained for the stoichiometric sample and, the CESR line width in the mixed-state presented a faster broadening when decreasing temperature, consistent with the larger defects concentration. Currently, the hexaboride compounds RB6 (R = earth rare or earth alcalines) belong to a material class which has been extensively studied. They crystallizes in a simple cubic lattice as CsCl, and show a wide variety of fascinating physical properties. Simple band metals (LaB6), conventional local moments magnets (GdB6), system with dense Kondo behavior (CeB6) or even low carrier density FM systems with local moments as EuB6, make part of this group. This richness of interesting physical properties, together with their simple crystallographic structure, make the hexaborides an ideal system to study. Recently, it was found that the La 3+ (0.5%) impurity doped CaB6 shows a WF (0.07 m B/La) in high temperature (Tc ~ 600 - 900 K) without the elements having half-filled d or f orbitals, which is usually required for FM. Enormous theoretical and experimental efforts have been devoted to clarify this intriguing property, in the sense to establish the origin of this WF and its relationship with the real conductive nature of the R doped CaB6. Particularly, we have found in our ESR study in single crystals of Gd 3+ doped CaB6 that the doping process is inhomogeneous, presenting different concentration regimes, including insulating and metallic phase coexistence. This result suggests that an abrupt change in the Gd 3+ local environment associated with the metal-insulator transition can be happening. The electronic configuration of Eu 2+ ions ( 8S7/2) is identical to that of the Gd 3+ ions. However, the effect of Gd 3+ and Eu 2+ doping in CaB6 is different: Eu 2+ has the same valence as Ca 2+ while Gd 3+ delivers an extra electron to the system, creating a hydrogen-like donor state. We believe that the insulator-metal transition revealed by the ESR line shape can be reached when these Gd donor bound states overlap and start to form a percolative network. Since not all Gd-sites participate in this network, a coexistence of metallic and insulating local environments are not impossible to be observed, as shown in our experimental results. In the other side, the substitution of Ca 2+ by Eu 2+ impurities does not yield a donor bound state, but the broken translational invariance of the lattice introduces a localized split-off state from the valence/conduction band. Then, it is supposed that an impurity band for Eu 2+ hen only forms at much higher concentrations as for Gd 3+ , as it is indeed observed experimentally. In contrast to the CaB6, the EuB6 compound is a well established semi-metallic material which presents a FM ordering at Tc » 15 K. Investigations of the physical properties of EuB6 were performed by ESR and transport experiments. Our study showed that the observed anisotropy and field-dependence of the ESR line width D H and of the magneto-resistence are associated with magnetic polarons and Fermi surface effects, since the latter is really anisotropic. We conclude in this study that, once reached the percolative state (metallic state), the anisotropic Fermi surface effects can be observed by the D H since the dominating relaxation process is the spin-flip scattering mechanism. For the particular case of Eu 2+ in CaB6, polaronic effects can be also observed in the D H, such as in EuB6
Doutorado
Física
Doutor em Ciências

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