Industrial on-line analysis by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy
AssigneeInstitute of Food Research
InventorsBrian Philip Hills, Kevin Michael Wright
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic technique is applied to objects undergoing translational motion for chemical analysis of objects on a conveyor passing through a detector module. The objects are passed through the detector module at a predetermined velocity V, in which there is provided a spatially uniform, constant magnetic field B0, substantially parallel to the direction of the velocity v and a radio frequency field B1 pulse transverse to the field B0. Selected nuclear magnetic resonance parameters from the objects passing through the detector module are then used to determine chemical composition or changes therein.
Claims26
A method of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy comprising the steps of:
- conveying an object to be analysed through an NMR module at a redetermined velocity, v;
- generating, within the NMR module, a spatially characterised, constant magnetic field B0 substantially parallel to the direction of the velocity, v;
- generating, within the NMR module, a radiofrequency field B1 pulse transverse to field B0 using a coil having cylindrical geometry whose cylinder axis is aligned along the direction of velocity, by using a first series of loops in said coil in which the plane of each loop is tilted with respect to the cylinder axis to generate a field with a component perpendicular to the cylinder axis, and using a second series of loops in said coil which eliminate a longitudinal component of the RF field generated by said first series of loops;
- providing a sufficient continuous length of RF coil according to the velocity, v of objects passing therethrough in order to enable the step of detecting nuclear magnetic resonance signals weighted with at least one selected nuclear magnetic resonance parameter from said object while said object is moving at said predetermined velocity.
Apparatus for gathering spectroscopic nuclear magnetic resonance data comprising:
- a first field generating means for generating a spatially characterised, constant magnetic field B0 in an NMR module volume having a predetermined length along a longitudinal axis thereof, the B0 field being parallel to said longitudinal axis;
- a second field generating means for generating, within the NMR module volume, radiofrequency field B1 pulses transverse to field B0, the second field generating means comprising a coil having cylindrical geometry whose cylinder axis is aligned along the direction of velocity, the coil including a first series of loops in which the plane of each loop is tilted with respect to the cylinder axis so as to generate a field with a component perpendicular to the cylinder axis, and a second series of loops which generate a field which eliminates a longitudinal component of the RF field generated by said first series of loops;
- means for conveying a series of objects at a predetermined velocity through the first and second field generating means;
- receiver means for detecting nuclear magnetic resonance signals weighted with at least one selected nuclear magnetic resonance parameter from said object while said object is moving at said predetermined velocity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.