Dissolution Dynamic Nuclear Polarization capability study with fluid path

Signal enhancement by hyperpolarization is a way of overcoming the low sensitivity in magnetic resonance; MRI in particular. One of the most well-known methods, dissolution Dynamic Nuclear Polarization, has been used clinically in cancer patients. One way of ensuring a low bioburden of the hyperpolarized product is by use of a closed fluid path that constitutes a barrier to contamination. The fluid path can be filled with the pharmaceuticals, i.e. imaging agent and solvents, in a clean room, and then stored or immediately used at the polarizer. In this study, we present a method of filling the fluid path that allows it to be reused. The filling method has been investigated in terms of reproducibility at two extrema, high dose for patient use and low dose for rodent studies, using [1-13C]pyruvate as example. We demonstrate that the filling method allows high reproducibility of six quality control parameters with standard deviations 3-10 times smaller than the acceptance criteria intervals in clinical studies. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.