Imaging

Dilara Faderl (KIT, Germany)

Abstract: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) combines the principles of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) with spatial encoding, enabling the spatially resolved detection of molecular interactions across diverse physical and chemical environments. In particular, MRI can encode contrast based on nuclear relaxation properties (transverse and longitudinal relaxation), making it a versatile tool for studying molecular processes. However, extracting such information is inherently associated with long acquisition times, as repeated signal averaging and additional phase-encoding steps are often required. Therefore, parallelization and miniaturization are essential for improving efficiency in both data acquisition and sample handling.

In this work, we exploited ^19F MRI for high-throughput ligand screening. ^19F MRI offers unique advantages because fluorine nuclei provide intrinsic chemical selectivity and negligible biological background, enabling direct spatial mapping of fluorinated reporter ligands without the need for additional spectroscopic encoding. By combining sample parallelization with compressed sensing and paramagnetic enhancement strategies, we screened 61 non-fluorinated samples within a total measurement time of 55 minutes, corresponding to only 54 seconds per sample. This approach accelerated ligand screening compared to conventional NMR methods, reducing the acquisition time from approximately 20 hours to 1 hour. In addition to high-throughput sample analysis, the method provides a quantitative approach for determining the binding strength of unknown drug candidates.

Kalpana Dhanik – @kalpanadhanik

This groundbreaking study reveals that people who are born deaf having unique brain strengths. Using advanced MRI to study cortical morphology, we found remarkable neuroplasticity. These findings highlights the brain incredible ability to adjust and open doors for better education and therapy for the deaf community.

Ryo Yashiro – @yashiro_ld

This presentation will describe the development of a home-made MR microscope. This MR microscope is currently under development and you can check the development and assembly process in the following tag(#HomeMadeMRI). Stay tuned!

Robin D. Allert – @robinallert

Understanding diffusion in microstructures is crucial in many scientific fields. Here, we introduce nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center-based nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy as a powerful tool to probe diffusion. We combined pulsed gradient spin echo (PGSE) with NV-NMR spectroscopy, allowing local quantification of the anisotropic molecular diffusion and flow within microstructures.