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Updated: Jun 8, 2026

Dissolution Dynamic Nuclear Polarization Instrumentation for Real-time Enzymatic Reaction Rate Measurements by NMR
Published on: February 23, 2016
Hyperpolarizing gases via dynamic nuclear polarization and sublimation
A Comment1, S Jannin, J-N Hyacinthe
1Laboratory for Functional and Metabolic Imaging, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland. arnaud.comment@epfl.ch
A new high-throughput method enhances hyperpolarized gas production using dynamic nuclear polarization and sublimation. This technique significantly boosts nuclear magnetic resonance signal for applications like 129Xe imaging.
Area of Science:
- Physics
- Chemistry
- Materials Science
Background:
- Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy requires signal enhancement for sensitive applications.
- Hyperpolarization techniques offer substantial signal gains but often lack high-throughput methods.
- Low-temperature dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) is a powerful hyperpolarization method.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a high-throughput method for producing hyperpolarized gases.
- To demonstrate the method's effectiveness using 129Xe nuclear magnetic resonance.
- To achieve significant signal enhancement for advanced NMR applications.
Main Methods:
- Combined low-temperature dynamic nuclear polarization with a sublimation procedure.
- Utilized a high-throughput approach for gas polarization.
- Applied the method to xenon gas (129Xe) for NMR experiments.
Main Results:
- Achieved hyperpolarized xenon gas production with high throughput.
- Demonstrated signal enhancement of 3 to 4 orders of magnitude for 129Xe NMR.
- Obtained significantly stronger signals compared to room-temperature thermal equilibrium at 7.05 T.
Conclusions:
- The developed method provides a high-throughput route to hyperpolarized gases.
- This technique substantially enhances NMR signal sensitivity.
- It opens new possibilities for sensitive NMR and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) applications.
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Noble Gases
The elements in group 18 are noble gases (helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, and radon). They earned the name “noble” because they were assumed to be nonreactive since they have filled valence shells. In 1962, Dr. Neil Bartlett at the University of British Columbia proved this assumption to be false.

