Development of stable isotope PET-like imaging using room temperature and low field nuclear polarization.

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20H00654
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 90:Biomedical engineering and related fields
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University
• Principal Investigator: Matsumoto Shingo 北海道大学, 情報科学研究院, 准教授 (90741041)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 武田 憲彦 自治医科大学, 医学部, 教授 (40422307)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: パラ水素誘起偏極 / SI-PET / 分子イメージング / 超偏極13C MRI

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we developed a 13C hyperpolarization system, which can be operatable at room temperature and low magnetic field, and the feasibility of PET-like molecular imaging by stable isotope 13C labeling was demonstrated in various disease animal models. The parahydrogen-induced 13C polarizer system can generate hyperpolarized 13C pyruvate with over 5% 13C polarization and the system is now commercially available from our collaborating company. In addition to applications of hyperpolarized 13C pyruvate for metabolic MRI imaging in disease animals including aging and colitis, we also reported, for the first time, necrotic cell death imaging in hepatitis mouse using hyperpolarized 13C fumarate prepared using a trans-selective hydrogenation Ru catalyst.

Free Research Field

医用福祉工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

超偏極13C MRIは放射線被爆リスクの無い安定同位体標識でPET様の分子イメージング診断が実現できるMRIの先端技術である。世界10ヶ所以上の施設でがん診断を中心に臨床研究も進められているが、現行の動的核偏極DNP型の13C装置は1時間以上の励起時間と数億円の初期コストなどの問題から、汎用の医療機器にはなり難い。パラ水素誘起偏極型の13C励起装置が実用化され、有用な適用診断が確立されれば、励起時間は1-2分、臨床コストはDNP型の5分の1以下が見込め、また使う時にだけMRI室に移動できるポータブル型の装置が実現でき、超偏極13C MRI診断の一般病院への普及が期待できる。