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http://www.tgdaily.com/html_tmp/content-view-40969-113.html
IBM announces MRI with 100 million times better resolution
Trendwatch
By Rick C. Hodgin
Tuesday, January 13, 2009 07:00
San Jose (CA) - In collaboration with the Center for Probing the
Nanoscale at Stanford University, today IBM announced a magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI) scanner with 100 million times better
resolution than convention MRIs - down to nanometer scales. The new
device operates on samples, not large scale bodies. However, with
such high resolution it has basically become a 3D replacement for the
scanning tunneling electron microscope able to see proteins and
viruses at scales down to 4nm.
Full details of the device will be published in today's Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), and a video on YouTube
can be seen here. IBM believes the MRI at such high resolutions may
be able to "unravel the structure and interactions of proteins,
paving the way for new advances in personalized healthcare and
targeted medicine."
According to Mark Dean, VP of strategy at IBM Research, "This
technology stands to revolutionize the way we look at viruses,
bacteria, proteins, and other biological elements."
A technique called magnetic resonance force microscopy (MRFM), which
relies on detecting ultra-small magnetic forces, allowed for the
advancement. In addition to its high resolution which is comparable
in resolution that of a scanning electron microscope, the imaging
technique can see deep into structures and not just the topography.
According to the press release, the IBM-led team was able to
visualize biological objects for the first time on MRI - including
viruses. They were able to see a tobacco mosaic virus, for example,
which is only 18 nanometers across, with resolutions produced by the
MRI down to 4 nanometers.
Dan Rugar, manager of nanoscale studies at IBM Research, said, "Our
hope is that nano MRI will eventually allow us to directly image the
internal structure of individual protein molecules and molecular
complexes, which is key to understanding biological function."
The IBM MRFM uses a magnetic sensor tip which picks up on the minute
magnetic forces of hydrogen atoms in the sample, called a resonant
slice. The slice sits beneath a tiny silicon cantilever which
vibrates in the presence of minute magnetic fields. Vibrations are
tracked by a laser interferometer, recording 3D details of whatever's
at that location. Image courtesy of IBM.
Unlike conventional MRIs (which use gradient and imaging coils) on a
persons entire body, IBM's device is small scale. It uses MRFM to
"detect tiny magnetic forces as the sample sits on a microscopic
cantilever - essentially a tiny sliver of silicon shaped like a
diving board. Laser interferometry tracks the motion of the
cantilever, which vibrates slightly as magnetic spins in the hydrogen
atoms of the sample interact with a nearby nanoscopic magnetic tip.
The tip is scanned in three dimensions and the cantilever vibrations
are analyzed to create a 3D image."
In 1986, IBM researchers Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer received the
Nobel Prize for Physics for their invention of the scanning tunneling
microscope, which can image individual atoms on electrically
conducting surfaces.
IBM Research is the world's largest industrial research organization,
employing 3,000 scientists and engineers in eight labs and six countries.
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