Measurement of translational displacement probabilities by NMR: An indicator of compartmentation

TLDR

The temporal evolution of displacement profiles reveals diffusion, restriction, flow, and spatially dependent relaxation effects. The study introduces and demonstrates a pulsed‑gradient stimulated‑echo NMR technique for directly measuring the molecular translational displacement probability of liquids. The method employs a pulsed‑gradient stimulated‑echo sequence to capture the displacement probability distribution. The technique enables investigation of sub‑micrometer compartments and characterizes their spatial property distributions over 0.1–25 µm regardless of compartment location. © 1990 Academic Press, Inc.

Abstract

Abstract We introduce and demonstrate an NMR pulsed gradient stimulated echo method of directly obtaining the molecular translational displacement probability (displacement profile) of a liquid. The temporal development of the displacement profile reflects the presence of diffusion, restrictions to diffusion (e.g., walls, membranes), flow, and spatially dependent relaxation sinks. This approach allows the study of compartments which are too small to be observed by conventional NMR imaging methods. The distribution of spatial properties of compartments can be characterized over a spatial field of about 0.1 to 25 μm, completely independent of the absolute spatial location of the individual compartments. © 1990 Academic Press, Inc.