ABSTRACT
Creation of useful image information from the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) phenomenon used for chemical analysis began with the work of Paul Lauterbur. In 1973, he reported on the successful creation of a 2D image of a pair of test tubes using a projection methodology and the careful modiœcation of a static magnetic œeld by means of an applied linear gradient œeld [1]. Lauterbur’s insight was in determining that a Fourier decomposition of the signals received could relate frequency to position in the presence of the linear gradient. By this manipulation, a collection of 1D projections was produced. A reconstruction process similar to computed tomography using œltered back projection yielded a transverse image of the test tubes.
