Novel Contrast Mechanism Via ParaHydrogen SElf Rfocussing

Jan Falk Dechent^1,2, Lisandro Buljubasich², Laura Maria Scheiber¹, Hans Wolfgang Spiess², Kerstin Mnnemann²

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.