Design and Testing of Diagnostic MRI/MRS Applications Based On Signal Enhancement by Parahydrogen-Induced Polarization

Parahydrogen-induced polarization is a hyperpolarization method that exploits the spin order of hydrogen enriched in the para-isomer, by means of a chemical reaction. Recently, its field of application has been extended significantly, through the introduction of non-hydrogenative PHIP (i.e. SABRE) and of innovative h-PHIP strategies that allowed to increase the intensity of the MR signals in molecules relevant for biological applications. This Concept article aims to show the potentialities of this hyperpolarization method in the field of diagnostics, through the discussion of some of the reported applications of parahydrogen polarized substrates. A section is also dedicated to the methods that have been introduced for the purification of parahydrogen polarized products, in order to make them suitable for biological studies.