Capillary Flow-MRI:Quantifying Micron-Scale Cooperativity in Complex Dispersions

Strongly confined flow of particulate fluids is encountered in applications ranging from three-dimensional (3D) printing to the spreading of foods and cosmetics into thin layers. When flowing in constrictions with gap sizes, w, within 102 times the mean size of particles or aggregates, d, structured fluids experience enhanced bulk velocities and inhomogeneous viscosities, as a result of so-called cooperative, or nonlocal, particle interactions. Correctly predicting cooperative flow for a wide range of complex fluids requires high-resolution flow imaging modalities applicable in situ to even optically opaque fluids. To this goal, we here developed a pressure-driven high-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) velocimetry platform, comprising a pressure controller connected to a capillary. Wall properties and diameter could be modified respectively as hydrophobic/hydrophilic, or within w ∼ 100-540 μm. By achieving a high spatial resolution of 9 μm, flow cooperativity length scales, ξ, down to 15 μm in Carbopol with d ∼ 2 μm could be quantified by means of established physical models with an accuracy of 13%. The same approach was adopted for a heterogeneous fat crystal dispersion (FCD) with d and ξ values up to an order of magnitude higher than those for Carbopol. We found that for strongly confined flow of Carbopol in the 100 μm capillary, ξ is independent of flow conditions. For the FCD, ξ increases with gap size and applied pressures over 0.25-1 bar. In both samples, nonlocal interactions span domains up to about 5-8 particles but, at the highest confinement degree explored, ∼8% for FCD, domains of only ∼2 particles contribute to cooperative flow. The developed flow-MRI platform is easily scalable to ultrahigh field MRI conditions for chemically resolved velocimetric measurements of, e.g., complex fluids with anisotropic particles undergoing alignment. Future potential applications of the platform encompass imaging extrusion under confinement during the 3D printing of complex dispersions or in in vitro vascular and perfusion studies.</p

In‐situ characterization of deposits in ceramic hollow fiber membranes by compressed sensing RARE‐MRI

Ultrafiltration with ceramic hollow fiber membranes was investigated by compressed sensing rapid acquisition relaxation enhancement (CS-RARE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to characterize filtration mechanisms. Sodium alginate was used as a model substance for extracellular polymeric substances. Dependent on the concentration of divalent ions like Ca21 in an aqueous alginate solution, the characteristics of the filtration change from concentration polarization to a gel layer. The fouling inside the membrane lumen could be measured by MRI with a CS-RARE pulse sequence. Contrast agents have been used to get an appropriate contrast between deposit and feed. The lumen was analyzed quantitatively by exploring the membrane’s radial symmetry, and the resulting intensity could be modeled. Thus, different fouling mechanisms could be distinguished. CS-RARE-MRI was proven to be an appropriate in situ tool to quantitatively characterize the deposit formation during in-out filtration processes. The results were underlined by flux interruption experiments and length dependent studies, which make it possible to differentiate between gel layer or cake filtration and concentration polarization filtration processes

Nectar formation and floral nectary anatomy of Anigozanthos flavidus: a combined magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy study

Metabolic processes underlying the formation of floral nectar carbohydrates, especially the generation of the proportions of fructose, glucose, and sucrose, are important for understanding ecological plant–pollinator interactions. The ratio of sucrose-derived hexoses, fructose and glucose, in the floral nectar of Anigozanthos flavidus (Haemodoraceae) was observed to be different from 1:1, which cannot be explained by the simple action of invertases. Various NMR techniques were used to investigate how such an unbalanced ratio of the two nectar hexoses can be formed. High-resolution 13C NMR spectroscopy in solution was used to determine the proportion of carbohydrates in vascular bundles of excised inflorescences fed with 13C-labelled carbohydrates. These experiments verified that feeding did not affect the metabolic processes involved in nectar formation. In vivo magnetic resonance imaging (e.g. cyclic J cross-polarization) was used to detect carbohydrates in vascular bundles and 1H spin echo imaging non-invasively displayed the architecture of tepal nectaries and showed how they are connected to the vascular bundles. A model of the carbohydrate metabolism involved in forming A. flavidus floral nectar was established. Sucrose from the vascular bundles is not directly secreted into the lumen of the nectary but, either before or after invertase-catalysed hydrolyses, taken up by nectary cells and cycled at least partly through glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, and the pentose phosphate pathway. Secretion of the two hexoses in the cytosolic proportion could elegantly explain the observed fructose:glucose ratio of the nectar

High resolution localized two-dimensional MR spectroscopy in mouse brain in vivo

Solid state NMR/Biophysical Organic Chemistr

Hyperpolarized multi-metal¹³C-sensors for magnetic resonance imaging.

We introduce hyperpolarizable13C-labeled probes that identify multiple biologically important divalent metals via metal-specific chemical shifts. These features enable NMR measurements of calcium concentrations in human serum in the presence of magnesium. In addition, signal enhancement through dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) increases the sensitivity of metal detection to afford measuring micromolar concentrations of calcium as well as simultaneous multi-metal detection by chemical shift imaging. The hyperpolarizable13C-MRI sensors presented here enable sensitive NMR measurements and MR imaging of multiple divalent metals in opaque biological samples