Motivation: To provide a commercially available hyperpolarizer producing hyperpolarized agents rapidly and reliably, to enable large scale metabolic imaging studies. Goal(s): To assess the reproducibility and polarization levels of the 13C-labeled -ketoacids pyruvate and -ketoglutarate achieved by POLARIS, a commercially available preclinical PHIP-based hyperpolarizer. Approach: POLARIS produced injectable doses of hyperpolarized 13C-labeled pyruvate and -ketoglutarate in 90 seconds. Polarization and reproducibility were assessed, and in vivo hyperpolarized imaging data acquired. Results: Polarization of >30% for pyruvate and >25% for -ketoglutarate were achieved reproducibly. In vivo images demonstrate biodistribution of -ketoglutarate and metabolism of pyruvate in the healthy mouse brain. Impact: POLARIS enables rapid, reproducible and high polarization of 13C-labeled -ketoacids with an easy-to-use, highly automated workflow. This breakthrough enables fast, reproducible results, paving the way for extensive, consistent studies that will significantly advance the field of hyperpolarized MRI.
Chaumeil et al. (Tue,) studied this question.