ABSTRACT
Naturally occurring nuclei, apart from hydrogen, which appear to be capable of yielding information on specific biological compounds using NMR are carbon-13, sodium-23, and phosphorus-31. Organic compounds enriched in carbon-13 can be added to biological samples, and their metabolism followed with NMR. Compounds containing fluorine-19 are proceeding towards medical exploitation with NMR. Larger-bore magnets are now available and the introduction of surface coil detectors may make the P-NMR examination of most human organs possible in the future. ECG-gated test demonstrate that the beat-to-beat regulation of the metabolism in the heart is amenable to investigation. With large superconducting magnets and flat detector coils this technique provides a noninvasive means of studying the human heart in vivo. P-NMR spectroscopy can provide information about the vascular and metabolic changes induced by radiotherapy, and it may help in the optimization of this therapy modality.
