Using nuclear spin hyperpolarisation for signal amplification

Many scientific, technical and biomedical analyses use magnetic resonance for spectroscopic or imaging purposes, whereby, in the majority of cases, in terms of sensitivity, only a fraction of the potential is exploited because of the thermal limitations of Zeeman level occupation differences. Even with strong magnetic fields of around 10 T, the resulting polarisation is only in the range of 10^-5. Hyperpolarisation techniques, such as optical pumping, Dynamic Nuclear Polarisation (DNP) and Parahydrogen Induced Polarisation (PHIP), significantly increase both the polarisation and the MR signal.