Physics Commons^™

Visualizing the movement of angiocatheters during endovascular interventions is typically accomplished using x-ray fluoroscopy. There are many potential advantages to developing magnetic resonance imaging-based approaches that will allow three-dimensional imaging of the tissue/vasculature interface while monitoring other physiologically-relevant criteria, without exposing the patient or clinician team to ionizing radiation. Here we introduce a proof-of-concept development of a magnetic resonance imaging-guided catheter tracking method that utilizes hyperpolarized silicon particles. The increased signal of the silicon particles is generated via low-temperature, solid-state dynamic nuclear polarization, and the particles retain their enhanced signal for ≥40 minutes—allowing imaging experiments over extended time durations. The …

Once limited to the realm of fundamental physics experiments, hyperpolarized (HP) noble gases have been exploited for a wide range of applications across NMR and MRI. In most cases, hyperpolarized noble gases are prepared by spin-exchange optical pumping (SEOP)...

This article covers the fundamental principles and practice of NMR hyperpolarization techniques, which are proving useful for in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) studies of metabolism in animal models, and clinical trials with hyper-enhanced sensitivity. Fundamentally, hyperpolarization methods enhance nuclear spin polarization by orders-of-magnitude, resulting in concomitant improvement in NMR detection sensitivity. The hyperpolarization methods described here – dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP), para-hydrogen induced polarization (PHIP), signal amplification by reversible exchange (SABRE), and spin-exchange optical pumping (SEOP) – are capable of achieving nuclear spin polarization approaching the theoretical maximum of unity on nuclear spin sites of molecular or atomic agents …