Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 12
Claim 1
Independent Claim
121 words
A method of reducing the effect of radiation damping on free induction decay during an NMR measurement of a sample, the method comprising: providing an NMR probe having a coil circuit for which the quality factor changes between a high-Q state and a low-Q state in response to the application of a Q signal; exciting nuclei of interest in the sample; detecting a resonance signal of the nuclei of interest at selected sampling times during free induction decay following the excitation pulse; and applying the Q signal to the probe coil circuit such as to change the coil circuit to a high-Q state during the sampling times and change the coil circuit to a low-Q state in between the sampling times.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
121 words
A method of reducing the effect of radiation damping on free induction decay during an NMR measurement of a sample, the method comprising: providing an NMR probe having a coil circuit for which the quality factor changes between a high-Q state and a low-Q state in response to the application of a Q signal; exciting nuclei of interest in the sample; detecting a resonance signal of the nuclei of interest at selected sampling times during free induction decay following the excitation pulse; and applying the Q signal to the probe coil circuit such as to change the coil circuit to a high-Q state during the sampling times and change the coil circuit to a low-Q state in between the sampling times.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
30 words
A method according to claim 1 further comprising limiting characteristics of the sample such that a radiation damping time constant is shorter than the spin-spin relaxation time of the sample.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
22 words
A method according to claim 1 wherein exciting the nuclei of interest comprises exciting the nuclei of interest with an excitation pulse.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
27 words
A method according to claim 3 wherein the excitation pulse is one of a train of excitation pulses which are used to excite the nuclei of interest.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
28 words
A method according to claim 1 wherein detecting a resonance signal further comprises detecting resonance signals in multiple dimensions during a detection period of a multi-dimensional NMR experiment.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
30 words
A method according to claim 1 wherein applying the Q signal to the probe coil circuit comprises applying the Q signal to the probe coil circuit automatically with a controller.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
46 words
A method according to claim 6 wherein applying the Q signal to the probe coil circuit further comprises applying the Q signal to the probe coil circuit with a controller that comprises a data processor and which controls additional NMR components used in performing the measurement.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
26 words
A method according to claim 1 wherein detecting a resonance signal of the nuclei of interest at selected times further comprises detecting the resonance signal periodically.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
44 words
A method according to claim 1 further comprising adjusting the Q signal such that the low-Q state and the high-Q state of the probe coil circuit are balanced to provide a substantial reduction in radiation damping without an inordinate increase in detected signal noise.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
156 words
A method of reducing the effect of radiation damping on free induction decay during an NMR measurement of the resonance signals of nuclei of interest contained in a sample for which a radiation damping time constant is shorter than the spin-spin relaxation time of the sample, the method comprising: providing an NMR probe having a coil circuit for which the quality factor changes between a high-Q state and a low-Q state in response to the application of a Q signal; exciting the nuclei of interest in the sample with an excitation pulse; periodically detecting a resonance signal of the nuclei of interest at predetermined times during free induction decay following the excitation pulse; and applying the Q signal to the probe coil circuit with a controller such as to automatically change the coil circuit to a high-Q state during the sampling times and change the coil circuit to a low-Q state in between the sampling times.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
156 words
A method of reducing the effect of radiation damping on free induction decay during an NMR measurement of the resonance signals of nuclei of interest contained in a sample for which a radiation damping time constant is shorter than the spin-spin relaxation time of the sample, the method comprising: providing an NMR probe having a coil circuit for which the quality factor changes between a high-Q state and a low-Q state in response to the application of a Q signal; exciting the nuclei of interest in the sample with an excitation pulse; periodically detecting a resonance signal of the nuclei of interest at predetermined times during free induction decay following the excitation pulse; and applying the Q signal to the probe coil circuit with a controller such as to automatically change the coil circuit to a high-Q state during the sampling times and change the coil circuit to a low-Q state in between the sampling times.