University of California

Megan Spence

Alexander Pines

Seth Rubin

David E Wemmer

Adam Moule

Song-I Han

Sunil Saxena

Josef Granwehr

Juliette A Seeley

Kimberly L Pierce

An apparatus and method for remote NMR/MRI spectroscopy having an encoding coil with a sample chamber, a supply of signal carriers, preferably hyperpolarized xenon and a detector allowing the spatial and temporal separation of signal preparation and signal detection steps. This separation allows the physical conditions and methods of the encoding and detection steps to be optimized independently. The encoding of the carrier molecules may take place in a high or a low magnetic field and conventional NMR pulse sequences can be split between encoding and detection steps. In one embodiment, the detector is a high magnetic field NMR apparatus. In another embodiment, the detector is a superconducting quantum interference device. A further embodiment uses optical detection of Rb&#x2014;Xe spin exchange. Another embodiment uses an optical magnetometer using non-linear Faraday rotation. Concentration of the signal carriers in the detector can greatly improve the signal to noise ratio.

Remote NMR/MRI detection of laser polarized gases

A functionalized active-nucleus complex sensor that selectively associates with one or more target species, and a method for assaying and screening for one or a plurality of target species utilizing one or a plurality of functionalized active-nucleus complexes with at least two of the functionalized active-nucleus complexes having an attraction affinity to different corresponding target species. The functionalized active-nucleus complex has an active-nucleus and a targeting carrier. The method involves functionalizing an active-nucleus, for each functionalized active-nucleus complex, by incorporating the active-nucleus into a macromolucular or molecular complex that is capable of binding one of the target species and then bringing the macromolecular or molecular complexes into contact with the target species and detecting the occurrence of or change in a nuclear magnetic resonance signal from each of the active-nuclei in each of the functionalized active-nucleus complexes.

Functionalized active-nucleus complex sensor

Growing community of inventors

Zurich, Switzerland

Megan Spence