Magnetic Resonance Force Microscopy

IBM biomedical researchers are currently developing a new imaging technique that combines techniques used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with atomic force microscopy to create what they call Magnetic Resonance Force Microscopy(MRFM). Basically the machine allows for 3 dimensional MRI scans with a volume resolution 100 million times finer than conventional MRI. This technique could then be used to create 3D images of small viruses, proteins, and other molecules on the nanoscale. The image shows the basic set up of the machine.

The possibilities of this new imaging technique are limitless. Currently many researchers are interested in the design as a way to identify specific chemical structures on viruses or cancer cells as a way to directly target them. This could allow for an entirely new line of drugs and treatment options for endless diseases and sicknesses through the non-destructive, chemical-specific, high-resolution microscopic studies and imaging of subsurface properties. The designer have even made claims that it could potentially be used for atomic-scale imaging. This depth and detailed imaging would create and entirely new way that researchers could view problems and hopefully will allow for the curing of some, at this point in time, in-curable diseases.

The full article can be found at: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/01/12/0812068106.abstract