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Center for Nonlinear Studies |
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a prime non-invasive medical diagnostic tool. It combines NMR physics of water protons with imaging techniques allowing the creation of anatomical maps of the human body. These maps, with millimeter-scale resolution attainable by existing human MRI technology, are yet too grainy for imaging cellular microstructure on a micrometer scale. Hence current research is focusing on extracting cellular-scale information indirectly, by analyzing the NMR signals from individual pixels of an MRI scan. In practice, this is a challenging inverse problem that requires the modeling of diffusion and relaxation in heterogeneous media. Here the connection with condensed matter physics naturally emerges. I will draw parallels with transport in disordered condensed matter systems and illustrate how one can quantify biophysical properties of tissues, such as cell size, magnetization, diffusivity, and membrane permeability. Correlating these properties with tissue physiology and pathology opens up wide opportunities to develop novel diagnostic methods, as well as to understand and quantify biological processes in-vivo.
Host: Brian Munsky (CNLS/CCS3)