NMR and its Applications to Living Systems

This textbook introduces the technique of nuclear magnetic resonance and discusses the manner in which both magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) can be used to study biological systems.

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Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is widely used a a non-invasive means of obtaining clinical images and of studing tissue metabolism in vivo. In this book, the principles of NMR are introduced, a description is given of the ways in which NMR can be used to study living systems, and the scope and limitations of the technique are discussed. While the focus is on applications in man (in particular on physiological and biochemical studies), descriptions are also given
of the ways in which basic NMR research studies can complement and aid interpretation of clinical findings.

The book begins with an introduction to NMR as a method of studying living systems. The following three chapters give illustative applications of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and imaging (MRI), including the new methods of functional imaging. The latter half of the book provides a more theoretical and technical description of NMR. There are chapters on the basic principles of the techniques, the parameters that characterize NMR signals, instrumentation, and pulse sequences. The
book is written at a level that should be appropriate for newcomers to NMR and for users of NMR who do not have a strong background in the physical sciences.