Introductory description

You have probably heard about the use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in medical diagnosis. In fact, magnetic resonance in nuclei, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), and in electrons, Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR), have existed as powerful tools and been used across science for several decades before being applied in the medical arena. This module describes the physics behind the techniques and shows why these techniques have found numerous applications in diverse fields including chemistry, medicine, and materials science.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

THE NMR AND EPR PHENOMENA spin and angular momentum; inherent magnetism, precession at the Larmor frequency in an external magnetic field; thermal equilibrium and bulk magnetisation; resonance and electromagnetic induction: continuous wave and pulsed experiments

NMR AND EPR HARDWARE NMR and EPR magnets (super-conducting and electro-); radiofrequency (rf) (NMR) and microwave (EPR) equipment

THE BLOCH EQUATIONS classical physics: precession of transverse magnetisation; the rotating frame, resonance offsets and nutation frequency; pulsed NMR: rf Pulses; longitudinal (T1) and transverse (T2) relaxation; continuous-wave MR: the steady-state magnetisation

PULSED MR inversion recovery and T1 relaxation; spin-echoes and T2 relaxation; Fourier transformation and frequency-domain spectra; sensitivity and signal averaging

MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (MRI) one-dimensional imaging: frequency encoding using magnetic field gradients; two-dimensional imaging: phase encoding; slice selection (3D to 2D); gradient echoes

NMR & EPR SPECTROSCOPY: PROBING CHEMICAL STRUCTURE chemical shielding & the chemical shift (NMR); the g-value (EPR); through-bond J coupling and through-space dipole-dipole coupling (NMR); nuclear hyperfine and exchange interactions (EPR); solid-state NMR: anisotropic interactions and magic-angle spinning; quadrupolar interaction (nuclear spin I > 1/2)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Explain the physics of the NMR and EPR
• Describe how pulsed MR experiments work
• Explain how three-dimensional images are formed in the MRI technique
• Describe how fine structure in NMR and EPR spectra can reveal structural detail on the atomic scale

Indicative reading list

MH Levitt, Spin Dynamics: Basic principles of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, Wiley

View reading list on Talis Aspire

Subject specific skills

Knowledge of mathematics and physics. Skills in modelling, reasoning, thinking.

Transferable skills

Analytical, communication, problem-solving, self-study