摘要 |
A technique and an apparatus are disclosed for the detection of cancer using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Specifically, NMR parameters for protons of lipid methyl and/or methylene groups are determined and compared against a corresponding value for healthy patients. In the preferred embodiments, an NMR spectrometer is employed to provide a spectrum for non-water components of blood, blood serum or blood plasma and the width of the methyl and/or methylene groups is measured at half-height as a determination of spin-spin relaxation time (T2) which is the parameter used for purposes of comparison with healthy controls. Suppression of the water proton signal is employed where necessary in order to obtain a suitable spectrum for the non-water component protons. In the event that a positive reading is obtained, the level of plasma triglycerides is determined and if it is high, the patient's bodily fluid sample is further subjected to C-13 nuclear magnetic spectroscopy. The resonance line of the plasma C-13 spectra discriminates between true and false positive results from the proton NMR reading and determines the presence or absence of cancer in the patient.
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