Parahydrogen‐Polarized [1‐¹³C]Pyruvate for Reliable and Fast Preclinical Metabolic Magnetic Resonance Imaging (Adv. Sci. 30/2023)

Metabolic Magnetic Resonance Imaging Hyperpolarization techniques increase nuclear spin polarization by more than four orders of magnitude, enabling metabolic MRI. In article number 2303441, Stephan Knecht, Michael Keim, Franz Schilling, Ilai Schwartz, and co-workers demonstrate a polarization procedure of [1-13C]pyruvate based on parahydrogen-induced polarization by side-arm hydrogenation (PHIP-SAH). It is benchmarked in preclinical in vivo experiments against a commercial dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) device. The safety profile, image quality, as well as the quantitative perfusion and lactate-topyruvate ratios, are equivalent for PHIP and DNP, rendering PHIP a viable alternative to established hyperpolarization techniques.