CAREER: Long-Range Dipolar Fields as a Tool for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Microscopy

在这个由化学学部实验物理化学项目资助的职业奖中，纽约城市大学城市学院的Carlos Meriles教授和他的博士后和研究生将开发一种用于有机和生物材料微成像和微光谱学的高灵敏度核磁共振（NMR）检测的一般策略。这将通过检测核极化的变化来实现，通过远程偶极相互作用，当超极化半导体尖端与样品相互作用时。Meriles教授还将为研究生开设一门关于成像方法的新课程，并将进一步为非理科本科生开设他的科学课程。传统的磁共振成像（MRI）由于灵敏度低，空间分辨率受到限制。扫描显微镜技术具有比MRI更好的空间分辨率，但这些技术没有MRI所能达到的极好的化学对比。Meriles教授的团队希望开发一种结合MRI和扫描显微镜优势的技术，以便科学家最终能够获得单个生物细胞的有意义的MRI图像。

In this CAREER award, funded by the Experimental Physical Chemistry Program of the Chemistry Division, Prof. Carlos Meriles of the City University of New York -- City College and his postdoctoral and graduate research students will develop a general strategy for high-sensitivity detection of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) for use in micro-imaging and micro-spectroscopy of organic and biological materials. This will be achieved by detecting the change in nuclear polarization, via long-range dipolar interaction, of a hyper-polarized semiconductor tip as it interacts with a sample. Prof. Meriles will also develop a new course on imaging methods for graduate students and will further develop his science course for non-science undergraduates. Due to its low sensitivity, the spatial resolution of conventional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is limited. Scanning microscopy techniques have much better spatial resolution than MRI, but these techniques do not have the superb chemical contrast achievable with MRI. Prof. Meriles' group hopes to develop a technique that combines strengths of both MRI and scanning microscopy so that scientists may ultimately be able to obtain meaningful MRI images of single biological cells.