Biomedical subjects

Mathieu Allard

Publications and source records attributed to Mathieu Allard.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Using metamaterial yokes in NMR measurements.

Swiss rolls are one instance of metamaterials, and can be described as an effective medium with a complex, anisotropic magnetic permeability. It has been shown that bundles of Swiss rolls can guide the magnetic flux in magnetic resonance measurements and increase the coupling between the nuclear spins and the receiver coil. Here, we investigate, with a numerical model, whether Swiss rolls can boost the detected signal in a NMR experiment, where the rolls could provide a low-reluctance return path for the magnetic flux when shaped in a yoke encircling the sample. The system consisting of the nuclear spin, the rolls and the receiver coil is analyzed with the method of finite differences in time domain (FDTD). The results show that small gains in the received signal are possible, but only if the losses (resistive and dielectric) in the rolls are reduced by over one order of magnitude from their present value in state-of-the-art materials. This situation arises because of the energy dissipation in the rolls and the mode splitting caused by the coupling between the rolls and the resonant coil.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2006

Guest-host colloid crystals: experimental study and simulations.

Disorder in colloid crystals was induced by doping them with a different number of large or small guest particles, which had a different deviation in size from the host colloids. The change in optical properties of the guest-host colloid crystals was assessed by using optical transmission spectroscopy while the variation in crystal structure was examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The disruption in the crystalline lattices depended on the relative deviation in sizes of the guest and host particles and the concentration of the guest colloids. In parallel with experiments, the packing of spheres in guest-host crystals was modeled with a simulated annealing algorithm. A good correlation was found between the changes in crystal structure observed by SEM imaging and the simulated sphere packing. The experimental and simulated changes in the transmission spectra of guest-host colloid crystals were in good agreement.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

In situ study of colloid crystallization in constrained geometry.

We visualized in real time electrodeposition-driven colloid crystal growth on patterned conductive surfaces. The electrode was patterned with dielectric ribs and conductive grooves; the groove width was commensurate or incommensurate with a two-dimensional colloid crystal lattice. Electrodeposition was carried out against gravity to decouple sedimentation and electrodeposition of colloid particles. Our experiments reveal the following: (i) Colloid crystal growth occurs under the action of electrohydrodynamic forces, in contrast with colloid assembly under the action of capillary forces. (ii) Confinement of the colloid arrays reduces the size of particle clusters. Small clusters easily undergo structural rearrangements to produce close-packed crystals when the groove width is commensurate or nearly commensurate with the 2D lattice. (iii) Incommensurability between the two-dimensional crystalline lattice and the groove width exceeding ca. 15% leads to the formation of non-close-packed structures and the distortion of colloid arrays.

Journal Article↗