A joint research group of the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research, Japan Superconductor Technology Co., Ltd., National Institute for Materials Science, JEOL RESONANCE Co., Ltd., and Chiba University has developed a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) device using a new superconducting wire to measure proteins. Was successful. NMR is an indispensable device for investigating the structure of substances, but it seems that it can be expected to be compact.
The hint for the solution was MRI, which is used in the medical field, and is a device that operates on the same principle. There was a problem that the magnetic field was disturbed even in MRI, but the disturbance is canceled by arranging a large number of pieces of iron, which is a magnetic material, around the person to be inspected.On the other hand, NMR has a smaller measurement target than humans, and MRI technology could not be used as it is.Therefore, the group succeeded in canceling the disturbance of the magnetic field by adjusting the shape and arrangement using a small number of small iron sheets.
It is attracting attention that the technology developed this time will be an important breakthrough in developing higher performance NMR equipment.The weight of the magnet is expected to be reduced by about 2 tons, and it is possible to generate a uniform and strong magnetic field.It is expected that such advances in NMR technology will accelerate the development of new drugs.