IBM builds nanoscale MRI
BIG BLUE researchers have constructed a nanoscale magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device in collaboration with Stanford University.
The instrument has a resolution 100 million times finer than the conventional MRI machines routinely used for medical imaging. The advance, published today by the National Academy of Sciences, marks a milestone for molecular biology and nanotechnology as a potential tool for studying complex 3D structures at nanometre scale.
Such a sensitive microscope - or nanoscope, really - shows promise for the detailed study of many diverse materials, from proteins to integrated circuits, at the level of atomic structure.
The nanoscale MRI device uses a technique called magnetic resonance force microscopy that detects ultrasmall magnetic forces. In addition to providing very high resolution, the technique has desirable advantages in that it can 'see' below surfaces and - unlike electron microscopy - is non-destructive to relatively sensitive chemical and biological materials. µ
L'Inq
IBM
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hmmm... a new bandwidth challenge.. How do you get a Nanoscale MRI image to storage in a reasonable amount of time? These images are going to be huge to store, and move around. I would bet that each image file will be in the terabyte range. Here comes another wave of technologies to deal with things like this.
I think I remember reading about using MRI scanners on biochemicals for use in quantum computing. Maybe Im just wrong but that would really help. Just needs to be small enough!!!
IBM have been doing this stuff for years. Atomic Force Microscopy is another nano-scale method, currently with better resolution than this nano-MRI, so notihng new here. It is a leap ahead in terms of MRI imaging and especially for soft-sample imaging - as AFM cannot hold the integrity of the soft-samples as readily.
As for the comment on storage - these samples can only be of finite size and scanning topography will scale with current MRI technology so although its a higher resolution tech - the resulting images will be restricted to a minute area - no terabytes required, even with multi later analysis.
Im still waiting for IBM to release info about their new hard drive tech which is similar to the AFM/MRI tech but should pave the way for miniaturised multi tera-byte HDD's.