Coatings for production of hyperpolarized noble gases

US5612103A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• THE TRUSTEES OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY · US

Inventors

• Bastiaan Driehuys · Durham, US
• William Happer · Princeton, US
• Gordon D. Cates, Jr. · Skillman, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Jun 7, 1995
• Grant date: Mar 18, 1997
• Expiry date: Jun 7, 2015

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y10T428/31612
• WIPO field: Pharmaceuticals
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

The invention provides a method of inhibiting surface-induced nuclear spin relaxation and surface trapping of a hyperpolarized noble gas, most preferably .sup.129 Xe, by polymer-coated surfaces. The method includes inhibiting the amount of interaction of the noble gas with a polymeric coating on the surface of apparatus which contacts the noble gas. Preferably, the method includes inhibiting noble gas nuclear spin relaxation by replacing at least some of the protons in the polymer with substituents which have non-zero nuclear spin and/or reduced polymer permeability. A preferred substituent having non-zero spin is deuterium. A preferred modification which reduces permeability includes introducing into the polymer a substituent such as a halogen, more preferably fluorine. The method also provides containers having surfaces which have been coated with a polymer which inhibits noble gas trapping and nuclear spin relaxation. Furthermore, the invention provides methods for enhancing the production and storage of a hyperpolarized noble gas by decreasing the relaxation of nuclear spin and limiting the trapping of the noble gas in a polymeric coating of apparatus containing the noble gas.