Hall effect imaging.
Wen H, Shah J, Balaban RS.
Laboratory of Cardiac Energetics, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. wen@zeus.nhlbi.nih.gov
This paper presents a new imaging method based on the classical Hall effect (HE), which describes the origin of a detectable voltage from a conductive object moving in a magnetic field. HE images are formed using ultrasound imaging techniques in a magnetic field. These images reflect the electrical properties of the sample. To demonstrate the feasibility of this method, images of plastic and biological samples are collected. The contrast mechanism and signal-to-noise issues are discussed. Since electrical parameters vary widely among tissue types and pathological states, HE imaging may be a useful tool for biological research and medical diagnosis.
PMID: 9444846 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]