Enhanced Overhauser contrast in proton–electron double-resonance imaging of the formation of an alginate hydrogel

Abstract

Proton–electron double-resonance imaging (PEDRI) was recently employed to monitor the process of formation of a calcium alginate hydrogel at a field of 16 mT. Here, under the same experimental conditions, images obtained through this technique are compared to images obtained by conventional T 2-weighted method. The results confirm that the image contrast obtained using PEDRI, thanks to the Overhauser effect, exhibits an improved sensitivity with respect to changes in water mobility as previously suggested in the literature. Furthermore, by increasing the echo time interval for the T 2-weighted images, important features of the gelling dynamics obtained via PEDRI could not be reproduced.