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We report the optimization of a slim-line logging NMR tool carried out by maximizing the signal-to-noise ratio of the NMR measurements. The tool, based on cylindrical permanent magnets of 20 cm length and 5 cm diameter, has a penetration depth of about 2 cm measured from its surface. This is obtained thanks to a large radio frequency coil whose dimensions are comparable to the sensor size. An analytical expression of the SNR as a function of parameters which take into account the interaction between the radio frequency coil and the magnet shielding is developed. In view of the external constrains such as the one imposed by the excavation hole, a proper tool size is determined in the optimization process. Due to its size and properties, the sensor is suitable to measure water content in the vadose zone, which is the zone comprised within the first meters of the Earth surface and whose study is important for improving water management in agriculture and for refining climate models., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Single-sided NMR was inspired by the oil industry that strived to improve the performance of well-logging tools to measure the properties of fluids confined downhole. This unconventional way of implementing NMR, in which stray magnetic and radio frequency fields are used to recover information of arbitrarily large objects placed outside the magnet, motivated the development of handheld NMR sensors. These devices have moved the technique to different scientific disciplines. The current work gives a review of the most relevant magnets and methodologies developed to generate NMR information from spatially localized regions of samples placed in close proximity to the sensors. When carried out systematically, such measurements lead to 'single-sided depth profiles' or one-dimensional images. This paper presents recent and most relevant applications as well as future perspectives of this growing branch of MRI., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This paper describes a shimming approach useful to reduce the gradient strength of the magnetic field generated by single-sided sensors simultaneously maximizing its uniformity along the lateral directions of the magnet. In this way, the thickness of the excited sensitive volume can be increased without compromising the depth resolution of the sensor. By implementing this method on a standard U-shaped magnet, the gradient strength was reduced one order of magnitude. In the presence of a gradient of about 2 T/m, slices of 2mm could be profiled with a resolution that ranges from 25 μm at the center of the slice to 50 μm at the borders. This sensor is of particular advantage for applications, where the scanning range is of the order of the excited slice. In those cases, the full profile is measured in a single excitation experiment, eliminating the need for repositioning the excited slice across the depth range to complete the profile as occurs with standard high gradient sensors. Besides simplifying the experimental setup, the possibility to move from a point-by-point measurement to the simultaneous acquisition of the full profile led to the shortening of the experimental time. A further advantage of performing the experiment under a smaller static gradient is a reduction of the diffusion attenuation affecting the signal decay measured with a CPMG sequence, making it possible to measure the T(2) of samples with high diffusivity (comparable to the water diffusivity). The performance of the sensor in terms of resolution and sensitivity is first evaluated and compared with conventional singled-sided sensors of higher gradient strength using phantoms of known geometry and relaxation times. Then, the device is used to profile the structure of human skin in vivo. To understand the contrast between the different skin layers, the distribution of relaxation times T(2) and diffusion coefficients is spatially resolved along the depth direction., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This work evaluates the performance of edge-detection algorithms to determine the sample geometry with high spatial accuracy from low-resolution MR images. In particular, we show that by applying such numerical methods it is possible to reconstruct the internal and external contours of the object with a spatial precision that surpasses the nominal spatial resolution of the image by more than one order of magnitude. Special attention is paid to find the spatial resolution and signal-to-noise ratio required by the described numerical methodology to achieve a desired spatial accuracy. Finally, we discuss the potential application of this image processing approach for in-line quality control of extruded rubber materials, where micrometer spatial precision has to be achieved from images measured in short experimental times. The results presented here prove that the sensitivity of mobile MRI sensors is enough to achieve the spatial accuracy required to proof check the production of extruded rubber fittings in acceptable experimental times., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In this work we describe the construction of a mobile NMR tomograph with a highly homogeneous magnetic field. Fast MRI techniques as well as NMR spectroscopy measurements were carried out. The magnet is based on a Halbach array built from identical permanent magnet blocks generating a magnetic field of 0.22T. To shim the field inhomogeneities inherent to magnet arrays constructed from these materials, a shim strategy based on the use of movable magnet blocks is employed. With this approach a reduction of the line-width from approximately 20kHz to less than 0.1kHz was achieved, that is by more than two orders of magnitude, in a volume of 21cm(3). Implementing a RARE sequence, 3D images of different objects placed in this volume were obtained in short experimental times. Moreover, by reducing the sample size to 1cm(3), sub ppm resolution is obtained in (1)H NMR spectra.