Department of Physics Thesis Defense presented by Avner Fitterman

Event Date: 
Thursday, August 27, 2015 - 12:00pm EDT
Event Location: 
CB 4104
Event Contact Name: 
Dr. Gautam Das, Graduate Coordinator
Event Contact Phone: 
(807) 343-8461
Event Contact E-mail: 


DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS

Thesis Defense Presented By:

AVNER FITTERMAN
"Theory and Production of Hyperpolarized Xenon Gas for Lung and Brain
Magnetic Resonance Imaging"

Thursday, August 27th, 2015
12:00 noon
In CB 4104

Abstract:
Conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) modality is based on the magnetization that is formed by the influence of a strong polarizing magnetic field on the spin of protons, typically those of water molecules within the body. In Hyperpolarized (HP) gas MRI, a dramatic increase in spin polarization is achieved using spin-exchange optical pumping (SEOP), which allows images to be obtained with a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Batch-mode custom-built polarizers can serve to produce the HP gas, however, such custom-built systems require optimization in terms of pressure and temperature parameters. This study is comprised of three objectives: i) Gaining understanding regarding the physics of the nuclear polarization process of 129Xe; ii) Examining experimentally the pressure and temperature dependences of the polarization, similarly to the way it was done in previous studies; iii) Exploiting this knowledge for the benefit of the optimization of the custom-built polarizer in our lab.