Limits to magnetic resonance microscopy

The last quarter of the twentieth century saw the development of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) grow from a laboratory demonstration to a multi-billion dollar worldwide industry. There is a clinical body scanner in almost every hospital of the developed nations. The field of magnetic resonance microscopy (MRM), after mostly being abandoned by researchers in the first decade of MRI, has become an established branch of the science. This paper reviews the development of MRM over the last decade with an emphasis on the current state of the art. The fundamental principles of imaging and signal detection are examined to determine the physical principles which limit the available resolution. The limits are discussed with reference to liquid, solid and gas phase microscopy. In each area, the novel approaches employed by researchers to push back the limits of resolution are discussed. Although the limits to resolution are well known, the developments and applications of MRM have not reached their limit.