Hyperpolarization Technology Helps MRI Visualize the Origins of Disease

Swedish researchers are now examining molecules that are typically only found in very small concentrations, directly in organs and tissue. After several years of work, researchers in Lund have managed to construct an instrument that “hyperpolarizes” the molecules and thereby makes it possible to track them using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The technology creates new possibilities to explore what really occurs on the molecular level in organs such as the brain.

In the polarizer, the researchers created these molecules visible to the MRI scanner by hyperpolarizing them. The molecules are then injected into their natural body tissue. “Then we can follow the specific molecule and see the reactions in which it is involved. This gives us a unique opportunity to see and measure enzymatic reactions directly in the living tissue,” explained Prof. Deniz Kirik, a professor of neuroscience at Lund University (Sweden).

The technology could be utilized to study molecules in many different types of tissue in the body. Prof. Kirik, who is a professor of neuroscience, will focus on developing this technology to study the brain something, which has not been done before. “The brain is not an easy target,” he observed. “When we look inside the brain today using MRI, we see the molecules that are most numerous. However, it is rarely these common molecules we want to study. We want to study how molecules that have a low concentration in the tissue behave, for example, how signal substances are produced, used, and broken down. It is when these processes don’t work that we become ill. This technology has the potential to help us do just that. If we can make it work, it will be a breakthrough not only for neuroscience but also for other research fields such as diabetes, cancer, and inflammation, where similar obstacles limit our understanding of the basic molecular processes which lead to disease.”

Prof. Hindrik Mulder is one of the coapplicants for the project and he will develop and use the technology in diabetes research. Dr. Vladimir Denisov, from the Lund University Bioimaging Center, is leading the technical development within the project.

At present, there are only a few polarizers in the world and Lund’s newly built device is the only one in Scandinavia to be fully available for academic research. “All the other equivalent instruments are purchased commercially and come with restrictions placed by the manufacturer. We therefore chose to take the longer and more complicated route of building the instrument ourselves,” explained Prof. Kirik.

Now that the instrument has become operational, the researchers have started on the first experiments. “This is the first of two steps,” concluded Prof. Kirik. “The next step in this frontline research is to develop the unique technology by constructing an even more sophisticated polarizer that will enable advanced experiments on animal models for various diseases.”

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