A better understanding of the properties of alginate solutions and gels by quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

A new, fully automated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedure has been used to measure for the first time all the MRI parameters of water in both sodium alginate solutions and calcium alginate gels at concentrations of 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% (w/w). Spin–spin (T2) and spin–lattice (T1) relaxation times, magnetisation transfer processes (MT) and diffusion coefficients (D) were measured to evaluate their potential use for studying gelling mechanisms and for determining gel characteristics. Four alginate samples, with different extents of O-acetylation were also studied and the use of MRI to discriminate between them was evaluated.