A system and method for detecting at least one compound in a material under test (MUT) is presented. The system includes a Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance (NQR) frequency generator that generates an NQR frequency (f.sub.NQR) and propagates the f.sub.NQR frequency toward the MUT. A microwave frequency generator generates a microwave frequency (f.sub.mw) and propagates the f.sub.mw frequency toward the MUT. A RF output probe detects radio frequency (RF) emissions returned from the MUT. A detector detects the at least one compound based, at least in part, on whether the RF emissions returned from the MUT include any frequencies corresponding to f.sub.mw+/(nf.sub.NQR), where n is an integer of 2 or greater. In the preferred embodiment, n=2.

A nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) sensor assembly includes an active sensor coil configured to transmit radiofrequency (RF) signals to an object of interest and receive return RF signals from the object of interest to generate sensor signals substantially representative of the return signals. The at least one reference coil is configured to receive environmental RF signals to generate reference signals at least partially representative of the environmental RF signals. The at least one reference coil is co-located with the active sensor coil. The active sensor coil and the at least one reference coil are in communication with a correction unit configured to remove interference components from the sensor signals using the reference signals.

An apparatus for magnetic resonance imaging includes a magnet, a patient support, and a contoured quadrature coil. The contoured quadrature coil includes a ring coil and an angled butterfly coil. The angled butterfly coil may have a front outer section, an inner section, and a back outer section. The front outer section and the back outer section may be oriented diagonally from the plane of the ring coil such that a portion of the front outer section and/or the back outer section are disposed above the plane of the ring coil and a portion of the front outer section and/or the back outer section are disposed below the plane of the ring coil. Thus, the planes of the front and back outer sections may be angled with respect to each other, and the inner section may be substantially pyramidal and disposed along or below the plane of the ring coil.

A method is proposed for the simultaneous optimization of an arbitrary number of electromagnetic pulses, which act in a cooperative way, or mutually compensate each other's errors. The method generally relates to pulses which can have improved properties when cooperating with each other compared to single pulses. In experiments with several scans, undesired signal contributions can be suppressed by COOP pulses, which complements and generalizes the concept of phase cycling. COOP pulses can also be used in individual scans. COOP pulses can be optimized efficiently with the aid of an extended version of the optimal-control-theory-based gradient ascent pulse engineering (GRAPE) algorithm. The advantage of the COOP pulse method is demonstrated theoretically and experimentally for broadband and band-selective excitation and saturation pulses.

A method for material detection is described. The method may include extracting, from a material database, a resonance frequency for the target material. The method may further include comparing an application type to entries in a scan database. The scan database may store pre-defined scanning patterns and corresponding application types. The method may include extracting, from the scan database, a scan sequence for the application type. Also, the method may include instructing a gimbal to follow positions in the scan sequence. The method may also include transmitting into an environment an RF signal when the gimbal is at the positions in the scan sequence. The method may further include receiving a response signal from the environment. The method may include analyzing the response signal for resonance characteristics that indicate a presence of the target material. Additionally, the method may include generating a haptic feedback when the target material is detected.

A method for material detection may include extracting, from a material database, a resonance frequency for the target material. The method may further include comparing an application type to entries in a scan database. The scan database may store pre-defined scanning patterns and corresponding application types. The method may include extracting, from the scan database, a scan sequence for the application type. Also, the method may include instructing a gimbal to follow positions in the scan sequence. The method may also include transmitting into an environment an RF signal when the gimbal is at the positions in the scan sequence. The method may further include receiving a response signal from the environment. The method may include generating a haptic feedback to indicate a directionality or a proximity to the target material. The method may include analyzing the response signal for resonance characteristics that indicate a presence of the target material.