MTC SB RAS

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2024: Developing Clear Lung Imaging Technology on MRI

At the end of January 2024, Russian researchers from the International Tomographic Center (ITC) of the SB RAS announced the development of a new lung imaging technology through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). It is expected that the solution will simplify and reduce the cost of diagnosing various diseases.

It is about creating hyperpolarized gaseous agents that can be inhaled. The researchers believe that diethyl ether can be hyperpolarized and then fed into the patient's lungs. This will allow you to get a high-quality MRI image.

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The technique is many times simpler, many times cheaper and allows you to obtain hyperpolarized compounds in a minute, unlike other methods, "says Igor Koptyug, head of the scientific department of the ITC SB RAS.

According to the researchers, the effectiveness of MRI diagnostics is explained by the fact that the human body consists mainly of water, which gives a good signal in magnetic resonance. However, there is little fluid in the lungs, so they can be seen worse in the pictures. As of the beginning of 2024, various methods of using hyperpolarized gases for imaging the lungs are used in the world, however, the technique developed at the ITC SB RAS on the basis of hyperpolarized diethyl ether, a gas approved for use in medicine, is more effective, faster production and lower price.

The spin hyperpolarization method can also be used to enhance the signal of small molecules - metabolites (metabolic products in cells, tissues and organs of living organisms). As Koptyug notes, almost all pathologies begin with a change in normal metabolism in the cells of a living body, so the development of new technologies "allows you to create methods for diagnosing diseases at the earliest stages, as well as methods for observing the effectiveness of treatment."^[1]

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