PHIP-Enhanced Natural Abundance 13C Imaging in a Clinical MRI System Via 1H/13C Polarization Transfer

Dirk Graafen¹, ², Jan Falk Dechent¹, ², Michael Ryan Hansen², Kerstin Mnnemann², Hans Wolfgang Spiess², Laura Maria Schreiber¹

Aim of this study was to realize transfer of ¹H hyperpolarization to ¹³C in a clinical MRI system utilizing parahydrogen induced polarization (PHIP). The transfer was achieved by a modified refocused INEPT sequence (PH-INEPT+) which was sequentially transmitted since most clinical MRI systems are only equipped with a single RF transmitter channel. The generated hyperpolarized ¹³C state for natural abundance hydroxyethylpropionate was used for MRI employing the RARE sequence with 64 images acquired in the echo train. A single acquisition of an image yielded an SNR of 13 that could be increased to 40 by averaging in the echo train.