True three-dimensional image reconstruction by nuclear magnetic resonance zeugmatography

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) zeugmatographic imaging may become a safe and versatile alternative to medical imaging techniques that employ ionising and ultrasonic radiation. Most of the techniques that have been described for obtaining NMR images use single point, line, or plane scans to give a single slice, or reconstruct only a two-dimensional projection, and are relatively inefficient, complex, or difficult to scale up for use on the human body. There are a number of advantages to scanning simultaneously an approximately spherical volume to obtain a true three-dimensional image. A simple two-stage reconstruction method is described for obtaining such images efficiently with isotropic resolution, and examples are presented to demonstrate the validity and usefulness of this mode. The feasibility of high-resolution imaging on large objects is also discussed.