Bruker Biospin is to launch Hyperquant, a bench-top NMR reader for quantifying the magnetic hyperpolarisation and thermal polarisation of a sample, at the World Molecular Imaging Congress.
The Hyperquant applies time-domain nuclear magnetic resonance (TD-NMR) spectroscopy, a technology similar to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Hyperpolarisation provides a means to increase the nuclear magnetic polarisation by orders of magnitude compared to the thermal Boltzmann polarisation.
Hyperpolarisation can be achieved by various mechanisms, including dynamic nuclear polarisation and parahydrogen-induced polarisation.
Typically, carbon-13 labelled samples are utilised because of their preferential NMR properties.
The key applications requirement for Bruker Biospin's Hyperquant is that the polarisation enhancement factor needs to be determined very precisely.
Therefore, it is crucial to quantify both the hyperpolarisation and the thermal polarisation on the same sample.
The Hyperquant utilises a permanent magnet combined with a probe design and NMR pulse sequences to enable the quantification of the thermal polarisation of 13C-labeled samples using volumes as low as 1ml.
In this manner, hyperpolarisation enhancement factors can be obtained directly, without having to go via a separate calibration reference.
The Hyperquant offers a turnkey solution for researchers developing MRI or NMR applications for hyperpolarisation.
