Hiperpolarizacija jeder ³He

Uporabnost močno polariziranih jeder ³He sega od osnovnih raziskav v fiziki do medicinske diagnostike. V članku sta predstavljena dva učinkovita načina polarizacije plina ³He, optično črpanje z izmenjavo spina in optično črpanje z izmenjavo metastabilnosti – več pozornosti je namenjene prvemu. Za konec je opisana tudi obetavna uporaba ³He pri slikanju pljuč z magnetno resonanco.

Hyperpolarization of ³He nuclei

Highly polarized ³He gas is a versatile substance, with uses spanning from fundamental physics research to medical diagnostics. Two potent methods of its production, spin-exchange optical pumping and metastability-exchange optical pumping will be presented, with a focus on the first one. A slowly emerging but very promising application of polarized ³He is in magnetic resonance imaging of the lungs, which will also be discussed.