Department of Radiology, Medical Physics, Medical Center-University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Breisacherstrasse 60a, Freiburg 79106, Germany.
German Consortium for Cancer Research (DKTK), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany.
Nat Commun. 2017 Mar 6;8:14535. doi: 10.1038/ncomms14535.
Hyperpolarized (HP) tracers dramatically increase the sensitivity of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to monitor metabolism non-invasively and in vivo. Their production, however, requires an extra polarizing device (polarizer) whose complexity, operation and cost can exceed that of an MRI system itself. Furthermore, the lifetime of HP tracers is short and some of the enhancement is lost during transfer to the application site. Here, we present the production of HP tracers in water without an external polarizer: by Synthesis Amid the Magnet Bore, A Dramatically Enhanced Nuclear Alignment (SAMBADENA) is achieved within seconds, corresponding to a hyperpolarization of ∼20%. As transfer of the tracer is no longer required, SAMBADENA may permit a higher polarization at the time of detection at a fraction of the cost and complexity of external polarizers. This development is particularly promising in light of the recently extended portfolio of biomedically relevant para-hydrogen-tracers and may lead to new diagnostic applications.
高极化(HP)示踪剂可极大提高磁共振成像(MRI)监测代谢的灵敏度,实现非侵入式和体内检测。然而,其生产需要额外的极化设备(极化器),其复杂性、操作和成本可能超过 MRI 系统本身。此外,HP 示踪剂的寿命较短,在转移到应用部位的过程中会损失部分增强效果。在此,我们提出了在没有外部极化器的情况下在水中生产 HP 示踪剂:通过在磁场中合成酰胺,可在几秒钟内实现核排列的显著增强(SAMBADENA),对应于约 20%的极化率。由于不再需要示踪剂的转移,SAMBADENA 可以在检测时以外部极化器成本和复杂性的一小部分实现更高的极化率。鉴于最近扩展的生物医学相关的 para-氘气示踪剂组合,这一发展具有广阔的前景,并可能带来新的诊断应用。