Abstract: The invention relates to a method of 13C-MR imaging, 13C-MR spectroscopy and/or 13C-MR spectroscopic imaging of inflammation or infection using an imaging medium which comprises a hyperpolarized 13C-substance.

Abstract: A system and method for MR imaging includes a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system having a plurality of gradient coils positioned about a bore of a magnet, and an RF transceiver system and an RF switch controlled by a pulse module to transmit RF signals to an RF coil assembly to acquire MR images. The apparatus further includes a controller programmed to determine a variable flip angle (VFA) sequence to excite a hyperpolarized material in a subject and to determine a delay period during which application of the VFA sequence is delayed after injection of a hyperpolarized contrast agent. The delay period is based on dynamic data of the hyperpolarized material acquired from the subject. The controller is also programmed to cause application of the VFA sequence to excite the hyperpolarized material in the subject and to acquire MR data from the hyperpolarized material using an isotropic centric phase encoding (iCPE) technique.