The invention relates to a method of magnetic imaging (MR) of a living sample comprising the steps of hyperpolarizing a hyperpolarizable gas ex-vivo and transferring the nuclear polarization from the hyperpolarized gas to the nuclei of an MR imaging agent, that is not hyperpolarizable, that is exposed to a uniform magnetic field and that is introduced in contact to the hyperpolarizable gas, separating the hyperpolarizable gas from the MR imaging agent, administering the MR imaging agent to the living sample, exciting NMR transitions in the nuclei of the imaging agent and detecting an NMR signal thereof.