Equipment: MRI:Track 3 Helium Recovery System for the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory / University of Florida AMRIS Facility

About This Grant

An award is made to the University of Florida (UF) to install a helium liquefaction system in the Advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy (AMRIS) Facility. AMRIS supports an internationally recognized user program as part of the NSF-funded National High Magnetic Field Laboratory with state-of-the-art, high-homogeneity superconducting magnets that rely on a stable, uninterrupted supply of liquid helium. AMRIS annually supports the scientific research programs of ~400 users, particularly scientists in the areas of developmental biology, physiology, chemical biology, biomaterials characterization, gas separations, and structural biochemistry. AMRIS also supports human resource development in instrumentation science by training students and postdoctoral researchers in radiofrequency, cryogenic, and superconducting technologies, areas that are of critical importance to maintaining and enhancing the nation's competitive edge in science and technology. The new liquefaction system will improve the ability to preserve helium, a critical, limited resource, and ensure a reliable supply of liquid helium to support the operation of superconducting magnets within AMRIS. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), In Vivo Spectroscopy (MRS), and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (NMR) are widely used analytical tools in Biology, Chemistry, and Materials Research that rely on superconducting magnets to study structure, dynamics, mechanisms, physical processes, and biological function over many length and time scales. MRI can uniquely characterize tissue structures in living organisms noninvasively. MRS can distinguish and localize individual metabolites and measure metabolic flux to elaborate chemically rich maps of organisms as they develop and differentiate. NMR is a fundamental tool for determining chemical structures, quantifying the relative abundance of different molecular species, monitoring molecular conversions, characterizing protein structures and dynamics, and measuring molecular level transport processes in complex materials. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.