DNP in MRI: an in-bore approach at 1.5 T.
Abstract We have used liquid state (“Overhauser”) Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) to significantly enhance the signal to noise ratio (SNR) of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). For the first time this was achieved by hyperpolarizing directly in the MRI-scanner field of 1.5 T in continuous flow mode and immediately delivering the hyperpolarized substance to the imaging site to ensure maximum contrast between hyperpolarized sample and sample at thermal polarization. We achieve a maximum absolute signal enhancement factor of 98; while the hyperpolarized sample is transported at a flow rate of up to 30 ml/h yielding an average flow speed up to 470 mm/s over a distance of approximately 80 mm. …
Spin Hyperpolarization in Modern Magnetic Resonance.
Magnetic resonance techniques are successfully utilized in a broad range of scientific disciplines and in a number of practical applications, with medical MRI being the most widely-known example. Currently, both fundamental and applied magnetic resonance are enjoying a major boost owing to the dramatic signal enhancement provided by the rapidly-developing field of spin hyperpolarization. Such techniques are able to enhance signal intensities in magnetic resonance by several orders of magnitude, and thus to largely overcome its major disadvantage of relatively low sensitivity compared to other analytical techniques. This provides new impetus for existing applications, and, even more importan…