Eduard Y. Chekmenev1,2, Valerie A. Norton2, Pratip Bhattacharya1, Brian D. Ross1, Daniel P. Weitekamp2
1MRS, Huntington Medical Research Institutes, Pasadena, CA, USA; 2California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
We show the utility of low-gamma nuclei, for example 13C, for spin storage of hyperpolarization followed by 1H detection, which theoretically can provide up to ~(γ1H/γX) 2 gain in sensitivity in hyperpolarized biomedical MR compared to direct detection of hyperpolarized low-gamma nuclei such as 13C, 15N, etc. This concept is demonstrated for biologically relevant reagents: 13C hyperpolarized succinate and tetrafluoropropyl propionate. Theoretical analysis and experimental results using refocused INEPT provide evidence that spin order transfer efficiency from 13C to 1H is in excess of 50%.
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