The DNP Warehouse: hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance for all (Ambizione grant PZ00P2_193276)

This dataset deals with the SNSF project The DNP Warehouse: hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance for all.

The project ran from Dec 2020 to Nov 2024. In this repository, we report all CAD files and data (raw and processed) of the yet unpublished part of the project: "accross cities transport of hyperpolarization" (transportable hyperpolarization) and "hyperpolarization generated to the point of care (portable polarizer)".

A short qualitative description of the project is below:

"Hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance (HP MR) is a new medical imaging modality with the potential of revolutionizing diagnostic radiology. The method is enabled by the more than 100,000-fold enhancement of the signal from specific bio-probes that can be administered to the patient. It offers the possibility of studying diseases at the biochemical level, allowing more accurate diagnosis and treatment for the individual patient, in the challenging move from “one size fits all” to personalized medicine.

However, the type of applications and the diffusion of this technique on a wider scale is limited by its low throughput. At the origin of the bio-probes hyperpolarization is the technique known as dissolution Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (dDNP). Generating one single HP sample via dDNP takes hours while, after dissolution, its life-time is short-lived: the enhanced MR signal will disappear after 1 minute or less. Therefore, HP samples have to be prepared as close as possible to the MR apparatus employing an expensive, technically demanding machine with high running costs: the dDNP polarizer. The culprits are the unpaired electron spins present in the DNP sample in form of organic free radicals. Their role is controversial: if they are needed for the DNP process to happen inside the polarizer, they also represent dDNP main limitation when it comes to exploiting the signal for HP MR applications.

For these reasons, HP MR via dDNP is nowadays considered as an “elitist” technique limited to few advanced research centers employing top-notch high field MRI scanners for detection of the HP bio-probes in vitro or in vivo. Differently, the MR community has recently shown renewed interest in low-field MR Imaging systems. The reasons are several: reduced costs, hardware simplicity, subject safety and comfort, implant compliance, lower acoustic noise and, most of all, reduced footprint/cost which would allow to take MRI to the point-of-care. Despite the advances in permanent magnets, detection coils, gradient technology, as well as image reconstruction, one is still constrained in terms of sensitivity due to the lower field strength.

The present project represents a paradigm shift in hyperpolarization via dDNP and an all-round effort to solve its low throughput problem, making HP MR available for all. The driving idea is to employ biocompatible UV-induced non-persistent radicals that can be activated and deactivated because of their thermal instability. By means of a thorough optimization of the involved radicals photochemistry, nuclear spins physics relaxation processes and new DNP hardware development the applicant aims at quickly generate several highly polarized HP samples made long-lived and eventually transportable thanks to the non-persistency of the UV-radicals. Being able to dissolve the HP bio-probes many hours after their preparation and far away from the dDNP polarizer, would allow to use a single HP samples production site (the DNP Warehouse) to serve many MR facilities and hospitals, similarly to what it is currently done in nuclear medicine for the distribution of radio-pharmaceuticals.

Once made transportable, the final goal would be to “bring hyperpolarized MR to the point-of-care”. The combination of HP bio-probes’ high sensitivity to low-field and reduced cost/footprint MR systems can pave the way towards a new, compact, reliable and affordable diagnostic tool useful from everyday consultation to intervention on the site of an accident, when a fast estimation of the damages is required.   

This opportunity will promote an even wider diffusion of hyperpolarization via DNP resulting in new high-impact research and applications for the years to come."