Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Imaging-Solo and Orchestra

Magnetic resonance is a physical phenomenon related to the possession of either electron or nuclear nonzero spin of molecules. It is the base of two important analytic methods, the application of which in biological and clinical research is completely different, despite this common basis, namely nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and electron paramagnetic (EPR, also called spin—ESR) resonance. Starting from this common physical root, this chapter compares the magnetic resonance-based, nuclear and electron-related techniques of imaging—NMR and EPR imaging (NMRI versus EPRI), focusing on the latter. EPRI is characterized from the very general perspective and described in detail including the basic modalities of the technique—continuous wave (CW), pulse or time-domain mode, and rapid scan (RS) EPRI. The description is supplemented with a handful of technical, software, and chemical details important for researchers, engineers, IT specialists and, hopefully, physicians who consider application of these techniques, equipment, programs, and “EPR reagents” in their work. The most recent biological and clinical aspects of EPRI are analyzed with a particular care, and pictured on the background of other related and not related research techniques, making the chapter a universal, interdisciplinary compendium of the common EPRI know-how.