Three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging of a liquid foam

Abstract

We describe three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of a liquid foam. Difficulties in imaging arise from the rate of evolution of the foam and the magnetic susceptibility mismatch at the boundaries between liquid and air. We used a protein gelatin foam, for which we improved relaxation rates and matched the susceptibility. A three-dimensional spin-echo sequence yielded strongly T2 weighted signals. The reconstructed data represents the first such full three-dimensional image of a liquid foam.