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Hardware Development

Magnet Design

The magnetic fields for NMR must be either homogeneous or of defined inhomogeneity. In the first case it is easy to integrate the signal of a sample, while in the second case a spatial selection is introduced. Of course both concepts can be combined (as in conventional MRI), but in the second case only if the inhomogeneities are relatively small. Both concepts have their pros and cons, and are both attractive for mobile NMR approaches. Therefore, the VIP-NMR will develop dedicated portable magnet systems with both characteristics.


Single sided mechanical controlled device for high precision depth scans (resolution ca. 10 µm). The so-called "Lift-Mouse" of the ITMC in Aachen.	Hinged Halbach system (NMR-cuff of ICG-3) with field strength of 0.55 T and homogeneity better than 10-3, which can be opened without force.

Development of Portable Spectrometers

Although in classical NMR the magnets are the heaviest part, for truly portable NMR, the spectrometers also have to become portable. Fortunately, in the last decade a technical revolution has happened in integrated rf-technology (DSP, etc) mainly driven by mobile telephony. Single board designs of rf-components with the complexity of entire NMR-spectrometers are now achievable. This has reduced the size and costs of commercially available systems already and some developers even claim, that their respective systems are truly portable. While this might be true for a few prototypes, the rf- and gradient-amplifiers stay bulky, heavy and are far from the required economical energy consumption for mobile application. The EP5-group at the University of Würzburg is the only institution which has developed a truly mobile NMR-spectrometer including rf- and gradient drivers that can be operated from a car-battery. Research is still required to adapt the system to the special requirements of the mobile equipment (especially gradient coils) and planned experiments.