English research center allots $10M for new MR technology

Researchers from the University of York in England have developed a new MRI technology, leveraging hyperpolarization with parahydrogen, a technique created by the university that can reportedly increase sensitivity of MRI.

The scanning technology is being developed in a £7 million ($10.62 million U.S.) research center, and Simon Duckett, PhD, and Gary Green, PhD, of the departments of chemistry and psychology, who are leading the investigation, have obtained a £4.36 million ($6.61 million) grant from the Wellcome Trust and Wolfson Foundation, in addition to financial support from industry partners and the university, to build the York Centre for Hyperpolarization in MRI.

The York Centre's research program will seek to develop hyperpolarization, which involves transferring the magnetism of parahydrogen to molecules facilitating greater visibility in nuclear MR, in order to make it suitable for medical applications, according to the university.

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