Researchers at Rice University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have unveiled a physics-based model of magnetic resonance relaxation that bridges molecular-scale dynamics with macroscopic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signals, promising new insight into how contrast agents interact with water molecules. This advancement paves the way for sharper medical imaging and safer diagnostics using MRI.

The study is published in The Journal of Chemical Physics.

This new approach, known as the NMR eigenmodes framework, solves the full physical equations that can be used to interpret how water molecules relax around metal-based imaging agents, a task that previous models approximated. These findings could alter the development and application of new contrast agents in both medicine and materials science.