Method for preparation of highly polarized nuclear spins containing samples and uses thereof for NMR and MRI
AssigneesTechnion Research & Development Foundation Limited, Yeda Research and Development Co. Ltd.
InventorsAharon Blank, Itai Katz, Akiva Feintuch
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Abstract
A method tor the preparation of a highly polarized nuclear spins containing sample of an organic or inorganic material, containing H or OH groups or adsorbed water molecules. Such highly polarized nuclear spins containing samples can be subjected to nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurement and/or can be thawed and immediately administered to an individual undergoing a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. The method is based on generating unstable radicals on the surface of the sample in the presence of ionized environment followed by cooling the sample to cryogenic temperatures. A device for carrying out a particular step of said method is also discloses.
Claims10
A method for the preparation of a sample comprising highly polarized nuclear spins, said method comprising:
- (i) providing a sample in the form of a powdery solid, in a sealed vessel;
- (ii) setting a controlled pressure and composition gas environment in said vessel by evacuating gas from said vessel by a vacuum system maintaining a moderate vacuum level of 1×10−6 bar to 1×10−3 bar;
- (iii) generating unstable radicals in said sample by electrical ionization of the gas environment in said vessel, wherein said unstable radicals are fixed to the solid and thus do not decay for tens of minutes and up to several days under moderate conditions;
- (iv) cooling said sample to a cryogenic temperature;
- and
- (v) performing a dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) process on the cooled sample so as to transfer spin polarization from the electron spins to the nuclear spins, thereby obtaining said sample comprising highly polarized nuclear spins.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.