Patent ID: 6995641

Claim:
A shielded solenoid for providing a magnetic field to shield hyperpolarized gases and/or to reduce the depolarization effects on such gases associated with exposure to stray magnetic field gradients or time dependent electromagnetic fields (EMI), comprising: a cylindrical body having a core and at least one coil segment disposed on and/or in the cylindrical body, said cylindrical body core sized and configured to receive a container holding a quantity of hyperpolarized gas therein; at least one container configured to hold a quantity of hyperpolarized gas disposed inside the core of said cylindrical body; a shield of conductive magnetically permeable material disposed proximate to said cylindrical body and spaced apart a distance from the container to define a flux return; and a power source operably associated with said at least one coil segment, wherein, in operation, current from said power source is directed into said solenoid at least one coil segment to generate a magnetic holding field having a low field strength and sufficient homogeneity to shield a quantity of hyperpolarized gas held in the core of the cylinder body.