Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

We have constructed a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner based on a dc Superconducting QUantum Interference Device (SQUID) configured as a second-derivative gradiometer. The magnetic field sensitivity of the detector is independent of frequency; it is therefore possible to obtain high-resolution images by prepolarizing the nuclear spins in a field of 300 mT and detecting the signal at 132 fYT, corresponding to a proton Larmor frequency of 5.6 kHz. The reduction in the measurement field by a factor of 10,000 compared with conventional scanners eliminates inhomogeneous broadening of the nuclear magnetic resonance lines, even in fields with relatively poor homogeneity. The narrow linewidths result in enhanced signal-to-noise ratio and spatial resolution for a fixed strength of the magnetic field gradients used to encode the image. We present two-dimensional images of phantoms and pepper slices, obtained in typical magnetic field gradients of 100 fYT/m, with a spatial resolution of about 1mm. We further demonstrate a slice-selected image of an intact pepper. By varying the time delay between removal of the polarizing field and initiation of the spin echo sequence we acquire T1-weighted contrast images of water phantoms, some of which are doped with a paramagnetic salt; here, T1 is the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation time. The techniques presented here could readily be adapted to existing multichannel SQUID systems used for magnetic source imaging of brain signals. Further potential applications include low-cost systems for tumor screening and imaging peripheral regions of the body.