Abstract
The work reported in this thesis describes the first part of a continuing programme of research and development of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging ('Zeugmatography') at the University of Surrey. In recent years techniques have been developed for the localised detection of the magnetic resonance of spin I = 1/2 nuclei in vivo. Research has shown that the technique has considerable clinical potential, combining the attributes of sensitivity to soft tissue and some pathological lesions with the absence of 'dose'. Zeugmatography also has the ability to define and locate one or more tomographic images with the flexibility which comes from the absence of moving parts within the scanner. This thesis describes the design and construction of a prototype NMR scanner and presents a critical appraisal of the first images obtained. In addition a new and powerful method for the simultaneous acquisition of multiple tomographic planes is described and demonstrated. Furthermore, analyses of the problems, of signal acquisition and reconstruction are given.