University of Waterloo used a new type of hardware and numerical algorithms to implement high precision spin control that allowed imaging of proton spins with resolution below 2nm, which could revolutionize traditional MRI medical imaging enhancing understands of the function and structure of biological systems, however this technology is limited to millimetre resolution.
This development extends the capability of Magnetic Resonance Force Microscopy which is an extra sensitive technique for nanometer scale MRI, by combining it with the newly found greater ability to precisely control atomic spins. Powerful capabilities of MRI to the nanometer scale are extended, providing a new lens to view functions and structures of complex biomolecules.
Now that there is a higher degree of spin control the well developed MRI techniques can be applied on an incredible small scale, opening up unprecedented access to new understandings of complex biomolecules says Professor Raffi Budakian.
