Magnets, molecules and medicine.

This article provides an introduction to high-resolution NMR with discussion of some of the important hardware considerations related to applying high-resolution NMR in medicine and biology. Experience has shown that multidisciplinary groups usually have to be formed to run NMR spectrometers dedicated for biological use, to cope with the demands imposed by the living systems under investigation and use of the spectrometer system. NMR imaging has obviously had a tremendous impact in medicine and many NMR imagers are being installed in hospitals throughout the world. In comparison to the already well established imaging techniques using CT, radioisotopes and ultrasound the overall experience gained so far is limited and there is undoubtedly a lot of work to be carried out before the usefulness of NMR imaging is fully assessed. The usefulness of NMR spectroscopy as a tool in in vivo biological research is clearly established. Originally based on 31P NMR studies the scope and extent of this type of investigation have now been enhanced by the use of 1H, 13C and 19F NMR and therefore will continue to extend our knowledge of metabolism, especially if NMR tracer studies with 13C and 19F can be shown to have real utility in an analogous fashion to radioisotopes. All of the nuclei discussed can be used to study the metabolism of various types of disease including carcinogenesis. With regard to medicine, the results obtained so far are certainly interesting and undoubtedly contributions will be made to the understanding of disease and related metabolism. At this stage, however, it is perhaps too early to say that NMR spectroscopy will become a routine tool in medicine but the rate of progress over the last ten years does suggest that the use of in vivo spectroscopy in medicine does have a significant future.