Magnetic microstructures for magnetic resonance imaging

US9084820B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignees

• THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AS REPRESENTED BY THE SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER—NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH · US
• The United States of America, represented by the Secretary of Commerce · US

Inventors

• Gary Zabow · Boulder, US
• Stephen Dodd · Rockville, US
• Alan Koretsky · Bethesda, US
• John Moreland · Louisville, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Apr 20, 2009
• Grant date: Jul 21, 2015
• Expiry date: Sep 29, 2030

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01R33/5607
• WIPO field: Pharmaceuticals
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

A magnetic resonance contrast agent has a medium, and a contrast structure dispersed in the medium. The contrast structure comprises a magnetic material arranged to create a local region of a local magnetic field such that nuclear magnetic moments of a material when arranged within the local region precess at a characteristic Larmor frequency about a total magnetic field in the local region while in use, the characteristic Larmor frequency being identifiable with the contrast structure, and the total magnetic field in the local region being a substantially spatially uniform magnetic field.