Patent ID: 8164333

Claim:
A magnetic resonance force detection apparatus, comprising: a sample carrier for carrying a sample to be tested; a magnetic field source; a support for supporting either the sample carrier or the magnetic field source; wherein the magnetic field source is configured to expose the sample to a magnetic field by simultaneously providing a plurality of volumes in which the magnetic field is configured to cause spins of one or more nuclei or electrons in the sample to flip, and wherein the flipping of spins exerts a force on the support; a support displacement measuring sensor configured to measure displacement of the support resulting from said force exerted on the said support by the flipping of spins of the one or more nuclei or electrons in one or more of the plurality of volumes, and generate a signal representative of said displacement of the support; and a processor configured to process the signal representative of the displacement of the support in order to determine a component of the displacement of the support caused by the said flipping of spins of the one or more nuclei or electrons in one or more of the plurality of volumes.