Measurements in the Hyperpolarized Helium-3 for Medical Applications

Onofrio Losito, Vincenzo Dimiccoli, Attilio Di Nisio, Maurizio Spadavecchia, Francesco Prudenzano

Abstract

Hyperpolarized helium-3 (³He) gas, is a new contrast agent for lung imaging diagnostic in functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) becoming an important technique to diagnose diseases and abnormalities in the respiratory tract. In this paper is described a new modular production method of ³He gas, hyperpolarized using the Metastability Exchange Optical Pumping Technique (MEOP). A standard set of measurements has been collected considering a prototype developed by ITEL Telecomunicazioni srl, able to produce one litre of ³He polarized gas at the pressure of 1000 mbar. A 27% of polarization at a pressure of 1 mbar is obtained in the optical pumping cell in a single run, while a time of about 20 minutes is needed to pump the gas at a final pressure of 1000 mbar in the storage cell.

Keywords

Hyperpolarized He3, Optical measurement, High Magnetic Field, Vacuum Control System

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IMEKO TC

TC4 - Measurement of Electrical Quantities

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