Low-field classroom nuclear magnetic resonance system

Abstract

The goal of this research was to develop a Low-field Classroom NMR system that will enable hands-on learning of NMR and MRI concepts in a Biological-Engineering laboratory course. A permanent magnet system, designed using finite-element modeling software, was built to produce a static field of Bo = 0.133 Tesla. A single coil was used for both transmitting the excitation pulses and detecting the NMR signal. The probe circuit is essentially an LC tank with a tunable resonant frequency. An FPGA is used to produce the excitation pulses and process the received NMR signals. This research has led to the ability to observe Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. 'Spin- Lattice' and 'Spin-Spin' relaxation times of glycerin samples can easily be measured. Future work will allow further MRI exploration by incorporating gradient magnetic field coils.