SBIR-STTR Award

The purpose of this proposal is to demonstrate the feasibility of replacing glass NMR sample tubes with tubes that are made from alternative polymeric materials and novel geometries. Expected advantages include the following: increased spectral resolution through better-matched bulk magnetic susceptibility, larger volume samples in the same geometries, easier sample recovery, greater flexibility and safety, reduced costs, and opportunities for new sampling configurations. Various types of glass tubes have quite different bulk susceptibilities from typical solvents and thus induce troublesome measurement artifacts, akin to refraction in optical measurements. The proposed polymer tubes have bulk susceptibilities very close to typical sample solvents and thus remove discontinuities that distort lines of magnetic flux. This will simplify the process of acquiring high-resolution spectra. The thin walls of the proposed polymer tubes are unbreakable and, for the same outside diameter, provide a larger inside diameter affording a substantial volume increase in the active region of the coil. Water also adheres less to polymeric tubes than to glass. This plus the detachable features of some proposed designs will greatly improve the ability to recover the samples from the tubes. The very thin polymeric tube walls also permit the development of novel geometries for concentric tubes that contain concentration and chemical shift reference standards.

Thesaurus Terms:
biomedical equipment development, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, plastic, polymer chemical synthesis, consumable /disposable biomedical equipment, structural biology

Feasibility has been demonstrated for NMR tubes made from polymeric materials with novel geometries. These tubes offer greater sensitivity, easier sample recovery, greater flexibility and safety, reduced costs, improved response to magnetic fields, and new sampling possibilities. Sensitivity advantages may reduce the time required for many NMR acquisitions by nearly half. This proposal aims at creating tubes for use in the full range of standard 5 mm NMR probeheads for liquid samples, and for 1 mm nanoprobes. The tubes will be compatible with the most common solvents used in NMR. The project will bring the new designs to market readiness. Subcontractors will receive funding to fabricate materials in configurations that are not standard for industrial plastics, concentrating on improved dimensional specifications. Rigorous Quality Assurance procedures will be designed and implemented. User testing of the new tubes will occur in distinguished academic and pharmaceutical company environments. Almost every component in NMR spectrometers continues to improve, except for sample tubes. ARTech's plastic tubes will change that by improving sensitivity, permitting rapid handling without breakage, and allowing for affordable disposability. These advantages have no offsetting disadvantages and benefit both routine and highly sophisticated spectroscopists.

Thesaurus Terms:
biomedical equipment development, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, plastic, polymer chemical synthesis, consumable /disposable biomedical equipment, structural biology