Magnetic Resonance Imaging at Low Magnetic Field Using Hyperpolarized 3He Gas |
| M. Suchaneka, K. Cieślara, T. Pałasza, K. Suchaneka, T. Dohnalika and Z. Olejniczakb
aM. Smoluchowski Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, Reymonta 4, 30-059 Kraków, Poland bInstitute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Radzikowskiego 152, 31-342 Kraków, Poland |
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| Received: 24 11 2004; |
| A low magnetic field magnetic resonance imaging system for small animal lung imaging using hyperpolarized 3He gas is presented. The hyperpolarized 3He gas at 1 mbar pressure and 30% polarization is obtained by the metastability exchange optical pumping technique. The magnetic resonance imaging unit is based on a permanent magnet of open geometry, built from a new generation Nd-B-Fe magnetic material. It produces the magnetic field of 88 mT with homogeneity better than 50 ppm in the 10 cm diameter sphere, after application of passive shimming. The magnetic field gradients of 30 mT/m are generated by a set of biplanar, actively shielded gradient coils. The first 1H images of various biological objects, as well as 3He images of the rat lung in vivo obtained in the described system are shown. In terms of sensitivity and resolution, the technique is superior to conventional 1H magnetic resonance imaging, and offers great possibilities in early diagnosis of lung diseases. |
| DOI: 10.12693/APhysPolA.107.491 PACS numbers: 32.80.Bx, 67.65.+z, 75.50.-y, 87.61.-c |