Metabolic and Molecular Imaging with Hyperpolarised Tracers

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Biophysics
• Radiology

Background:

• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a vital, non-ionizing radiation tool for macroscopic imaging of organs and tissues.
• Standard MRI suffers from low sensitivity, limiting the exploitation of rich chemical information within the MR signal.
• Hyperpolarisation techniques dramatically enhance MRI signal sensitivity, enabling novel X-nuclei based metabolic and molecular tracers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review promising hyperpolarisation techniques for clinical application.
• To discuss methods for detecting hyperpolarised tracers.
• To explore emerging metabolic tracers, their applications, and progress in preclinical and clinical studies.

Main Methods:

• Overview of key hyperpolarisation techniques: dissolution dynamic nuclear polarisation (d-DNP), parahydrogen-induced hyperpolarisation (PHIP), Brute force hyperpolarisation, and spin-exchange optical pumping (SEOP).
• Discussion of tracer detection methodologies.
• Review of current and emerging metabolic tracers and their applications.

Main Results:

• Hyperpolarisation enhances MRI signal by orders of magnitude over thermal equilibrium.
• Enables cellular-level metabolic process reporting via novel tracers.
• Current research focuses on oncology and cardiology applications.

Conclusions:

• Hyperpolarised tracers offer a new paradigm for elucidating complex metabolic processes in diseases.
• Several hyperpolarisation techniques show promise for clinical translation.
• Further development in tracer design and detection is crucial for expanding clinical utility.