I wasn't sure where to put this . . . 100 million fold improvement in MRI resolution which allows imaging of single viruses! From PNAS:
>>Nanoscale magnetic resonance imaging
C. L. Degena, M. Poggioa,b, H. J. Mamina, C. T. Rettnera and D. Rugara,1
+Author Affiliations
aIBM Research Division, Almaden Research Center, 650 Harry Road, San Jose, CA 95120; and
bCenter for Probing the Nanoscale, Stanford University, 476 Lomita Mall, Stanford, CA 94305
Communicated by Stuart S. P. Parkin, IBM Almaden Research Center, San Jose, CA, December 1, 2008 (received for review August 21, 2008)
Abstract
We have combined ultrasensitive magnetic resonance force microscopy (MRFM) with 3D image reconstruction to achieve magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with resolution <10 nm. The image reconstruction converts measured magnetic force data into a 3D map of nuclear spin density, taking advantage of the unique characteristics of the “resonant slice” that is projected outward from a nanoscale magnetic tip. The basic principles are demonstrated by imaging the 1H spin density within individual tobacco mosaic virus particles sitting on a nanometer-thick layer of adsorbed hydrocarbons. This result, which represents a 100 million-fold improvement in volume resolution over conventional MRI, demonstrates the potential of MRFM as a tool for 3D, elementally selective imaging on the nanometer scale.<<
Cheers, Tuck |
