Jan Falk Dechent1,2, Lisandro Buljubasich2,
Laura Maria Scheiber1, Hans Wolfgang Spiess2, Kerstin
Mnnemann2
1Section of Medical
Physics,
A major challenge in molecular imaging is the detection of tiny amounts of interesting molecules. Hyperpolarization can overcome the problem of low sensitivity in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) or Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). For the most widely used nucleus 1H, however, this strategy is limited due to the high number of background protons inside the body. By using the antiphase character of Parahydrogen Induced Polarization we developed a novel 1H NMR contrast. It allows for the selective detection of a small number of hyperpolarized protons with antiphase NMR/MRI signal in the presence of a large number of thermally polarized protons.