In this work SNR of thermal and hyperpolarized MRI is simulated based on first principles. It is demonstrated that detection of hyperpolarized nuclei is more favourable at lower field strengths (e.g. 0.75T) where prolonged T2* values and reduced readout bandwidth lead to higher SNR compared to standard clinical field strengths. Moreover, SNR benefits of receive coil cooling are experimentally studied on a clinical 3T Philips Achieva scanner that has been ramped down to a field strength of 0.75T.
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