Hyperpolarized nanodiamond with long spin-relaxation times.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 26450570.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ncomms9459 and PMC identifier 4633625.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The use of hyperpolarized agents in magnetic resonance, such as (13)C-labelled compounds, enables powerful new imaging and detection modalities that stem from a 10,000-fold boost in signal. A major challenge for the future of the hyperpolarization technique is the inherently short spin-relaxation times, typically <60 s for (13)C liquid-state compounds, which limit the time that the signal remains boosted. Here we demonstrate that 1.1% natural abundance (13)C spins in synthetic nanodiamond can be hyperpolarized at cryogenic and room temperature without the use of free radicals, and, owing to their solid-state environment, exhibit relaxation times exceeding 1 h. Combined with the already established applications of nanodiamonds in the life sciences as inexpensive fluorescent markers and non-cytotoxic substrates for gene and drug delivery, these results extend the theranostic capabilities of nanoscale diamonds into the domain of hyperpolarized magnetic resonance.