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ABSTRACT:
Methods: In MRI, SNR is proportional to voxel volume but retrospective downsampling or voxel averaging only improves SNR by the square root of voxel size. This can be exploited with a metabolite-selective imaging approach that independently encodes each compound, yielding high-resolution images for the injected substrate and coarser resolution images for downstream metabolites, while maintaining adequate SNR for each. To assess the efficacy of this approach, hyperpolarized [1-13 C]pyruvate data were acquired in healthy Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 4) and in two healthy human subjects.
Results: Compared with a constant resolution acquisition, variable-resolution data sets showed improved detectability of metabolites in pre-clinical renal studies with a 3.5-fold, 8.7-fold, and 6.0-fold increase in SNR for lactate, alanine, and bicarbonate data, respectively. Variable-resolution data sets from healthy human subjects showed cardiac structure and neuro-vasculature in the higher resolution pyruvate images (6.0 × 6.0 mm2 for cardiac and 7.5 × 7.5 mm2 for brain) that would otherwise be missed due to partial-volume effects and illustrates the level of detail that can be achieved with hyperpolarized substrates in a clinical setting.
Conclusion: We developed a variable-resolution strategy for hyperpolarized 13 C MRI using metabolite-selective imaging and demonstrated that it mitigates tradeoffs between a fixed spatial resolution and SNR for hyperpolarized substrates, providing both high resolution pyruvate and coarse resolution metabolite data sets in a single exam. This technique shows promise to improve future studies by maximizing metabolite SNR while minimizing partial-volume effects from the injected substrate.
SUBMITTER: Gordon JW
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7719570 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Gordon Jeremy W JW Autry Adam W AW Tang Shuyu S Graham Jasmine Y JY Bok Robert A RA Zhu Xucheng X Villanueva-Meyer Javier E JE Li Yan Y Ohilger Michael A MA Abraham Maria Roselle MR Xu Duan D Vigneron Daniel B DB Larson Peder E Z PEZ
Magnetic resonance in medicine 20200722 6
<h4>Purpose</h4>To ameliorate tradeoffs between a fixed spatial resolution and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for hyperpolarized <sup>13</sup> C MRI.<h4>Methods</h4>In MRI, SNR is proportional to voxel volume but retrospective downsampling or voxel averaging only improves SNR by the square root of voxel size. This can be exploited with a metabolite-selective imaging approach that independently encodes each compound, yielding high-resolution images for the injected substrate and coarser resolution i ...[more]