Maja Cassidy1,
Henry Chan2, Jingzhe Hu3, Nicholas Whiting3,
Charles Marcus, 14, Pratip Bhattacharya, 25
1Harvard
University, Cambridge, MA, United States; 2Huntington Medical Research
Institutes, Pasadena, CA, United States; 3The University of Texas
MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States; 4University
of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark; 5University of Texas, Houston,
TX, United States
We present measurement of the nuclear spin properties of hyperpolarized silicon nanoparticles suitable for targeted imaging of gastrointestinal disease. The nuclear polarization dynamics are unaffected by surface functionalization, particle tumbling or the in-vivo environment. Increasing the polarization time results in an increase in 29Si signal together with longer depolarization times. Single shot 29Si images can be obtained up to 90 min after delivery to the imaging magnet, and down to concentrations of 5mg/mL, corresponding to sub-picomolar SiNP concentrations.