Title:

Dynamic Nuclear Polarization and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance with Applications in Medical Physics

Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) is an effective technique used to align the magnetic moments of nucleons (or nuclei) within a strong magnetic field. We measure a substance's polarization via Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), which is a technique used to detect nuclear magnetic transitions or spin-flips. In a spin 1/2 system such as the proton or 13C, The measured NMR signal is directly proportional to the difference of populations of spins in the + 1/2 and - 1/2 states. The proportionality factor, also known as the calibration constant, can be determined by measuring the NMR signal for a sample with known polarization. DNP techniques have been used to polarize atoms such as 13C within molecules (such as 13C-Urea) that are essential compounds in metabolic processes. The research that I present is largely motivated by work done in a 2004 paper on the polarization of a 13C-Urea solution and its application as a first-pass signal agent in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). This research is the initial step into testing the feasibility of possible in-vivo studies with 13C within the University of New Hampshire Nuclear Physics Group (UNH-NPG). My first steps towards analyzing 13C data has been to develop fitting algorithms for proton NMR data. This includes DNP enhanced materials as well as NMR data acquired while the materials were at thermal equilibrium. This poster delves into the physics behind DNP and NMR and explores their applications in medical physics.

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