Patent ID: 8623327

Claim:
A method of obtaining nuclear magnetic resonance information for use in imaging blood flow in a region of interest of a subject using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the method comprising: introducing an imaging agent into the subject, the imaging agent comprising a compound having at least one hyperpolarized nucleus having a T 1 greater than 15 seconds and a log water-octanol partition coefficient between and including −1 and 1, wherein the compound is capable of substantial penetration of the blood-brain barrier, and wherein the compound is carbon-13 enriched tert-butyl alcohol (t-butanol) or carbon-13 enriched 2-methyl-2-butanol; providing at least one excitation signal to the region of interest, the at least one excitation signal configured to invoke a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) effect at least in the introduced imaging agent; and detecting an NMR signal emitted by the region of interest in response to the at least one excitation signal.