[Nuclear magnetic resonance. Applications to medicine and biology (author's transl)].

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a non-invasive exploratory technique based on a principle radically different from those of radiography, radionuclide exploration and ultrasonography. Signals coming from atomic nuclei and reflecting their density and chemical/biochemical environment are collected, thus providing information of the physiological and pathological state of tissues. The technique has multiple applications, either practical (tomographic imaging of the brain, thyroid gland and liver) or in the field of research, e.g. investigating ischaemic myocardial areas and pathological fluid composition, measuring intracellular pH, diagnosing the nature of a tumour and, broadly speaking, understanding the biochemical changes associated with malignant degeneration.