Temperature distribution measurements in two-dimensional NMR imaging.

This paper represents a preliminary study of the effects of regional temperature distribution in two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) T1 imaging. It is found, as expected, that variations in local temperature appear as variations in the corresponding T1 image. The potential use of NMR T1 imaging in temperature measurements is evaluated in the case of water and blood samples. Using containers where the temperature could be either known or directly controlled with reasonable accuracy, images are obtained with samples having at least two regions at different temperatures. As expected, T1 is found to vary linearly with 1/T over the range of 0 degrees C to about 40 degrees C for blood. The potential use of T1 imaging in hyperthermia applications is also discussed.