J-refocused 1H PRESS DEPT for localized 13C MR spectroscopy

Improved detection limits of J-coupled neurometabolites in the human brain at 7 T with a J-refocused sLASER sequence

In a standard spin echo, the time evolution due to homonuclear couplings is not reversed, leading to echo time (TE)-dependent modulation of the signal amplitude and signal loss in the case of overlapping multiplet resonances. This has an adverse effect on quantification of several important metabolites such as glutamate and glutamine. Here, we propose a J-refocused variant of the sLASER sequence (J-sLASER) to improve quantification of J-coupled metabolites at ultrahigh field (UHF). The use of the sLASER sequence is particularly advantageous at UHF as it minimizes chemical shift displacement error and results in relatively homogenous refocusing. We simulated the MRS signal from brain metabolites over a broad range of TE values with sLASER and J-sLASER, and showed that the signal of J-coupled metabolites was increased with J-sLASER with TE values up to ~80 ms. We further simulated "brain-like" spectra with both sequences at the shortest TE available on our scanner. We showed that, despite the slightly longer TE, the J-sLASER sequence results in significantly lower Cramer-Rao lower bounds (CRLBs) for J-coupled metabolites compared with those obtained with sLASER. Following phantom validation, we acquired spectra from two brain regions in 10 healthy volunteers (age 38 ± 15 years) using both sequences. We showed that using J-sLASER results in a decrease of CRLBs for J-coupled metabolites. In particular, we measured a robust ~38% decrease in the mean CRLB (glutamine) in parietal white matter and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). We further showed, in 10 additional healthy volunteers (age 34 ± 15 years), that metabolite quantification following two separate acquisitions with J-sLASER in the PCC was repeatable. The improvement in quantification of glutamine may in turn improve the independent quantification of glutamate, the main excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain, and will simultaneously help to track possible modulations of glutamine, which is a key player in the glutamatergic cycle in astrocytes.

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy in the rodent brain: Experts' consensus recommendations

In vivo MRS is a non-invasive measurement technique used not only in humans, but also in animal models using high-field magnets. MRS enables the measurement of metabolite concentrations as well as metabolic rates and their modifications in healthy animals and disease models. Such data open the way to a deeper understanding of the underlying biochemistry, related disturbances and mechanisms taking place during or prior to symptoms and tissue changes. In this work, we focus on the main preclinical 1H, 31P and 13C MRS approaches to study brain metabolism in rodent models, with the aim of providing general experts' consensus recommendations (animal models, anesthesia, data acquisition protocols). An overview of the main practical differences in preclinical compared with clinical MRS studies is presented, as well as the additional biochemical information that can be obtained in animal models in terms of metabolite concentrations and metabolic flux measurements. The properties of high-field preclinical MRS and the technical limitations are also described.

Comparison of direct 13C and indirect 1H-[13C] MR detection methods for the study of dynamic metabolic turnover in the human brain

A wide range of direct ¹³C and indirect ¹H-[¹³C] MR detection methods exist to probe dynamic metabolic pathways in the human brain. Choosing an optimal detection method is difficult as sequence-specific features regarding spatial localization, broadband decoupling, spectral resolution, power requirements and sensitivity complicate a straightforward comparison. Here we combine density matrix simulations with experimentally determined values for intrinsic ¹H and ¹³C sensitivity, T₁ and T₂ relaxation and transmit efficiency to allow selection of an optimal ¹³C MR detection method for a given application and magnetic field. The indirect proton-observed, carbon-edited (POCE) detection method provides the highest accuracy at reasonable RF power deposition both at 4T and 7T. The various polarization transfer methods all have comparable performances, but may become infeasible at 7T due to the high RF power deposition. 2D MR methods have limited value for the metabolites considered (primarily glutamate, glutamine and γ-amino butyric acid (GABA)), but may prove valuable when additional information can be extracted, such as isotopomers or lipid composition. While providing the lowest accuracy, the detection of non-protonated carbons is the simplest to implement with the lowest RF power deposition. The magnetic field homogeneity is one of the most important parameters affecting the detection accuracy for all metabolites and all acquisition methods.

UCEPR: Ultrafast localized CEST-spectroscopy with PRESS in phantoms and in vivo

PURPOSE

Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) is a contrast mechanism enhancing low-concentration molecules through saturation transfer from their exchangeable protons to bulk water. Often many scans are acquired to form a Z-spectrum, making the CEST method time-consuming. Here, an ultrafast localized CEST-spectroscopy with PRESS (UCEPR) is proposed to obtain the entire Z-spectrum of a voxel using only two scans, significantly accelerating CEST.

THEORY AND METHODS

The approach combines ultrafast nonlocalized CEST spectroscopy with localization using PRESS. A field gradient is applied concurrently with the saturation pulse producing simultaneous saturation of all Z-spectrum frequencies that are also spatially encoded. A readout gradient during data acquisition resolves the spatial dependence of the CEST responses into frequency. UCEPR was tested on a 3T scanner both in phantoms and in vivo.

RESULTS

In phantoms, a fast Z-spectroscopy acquisition of multiple pH-variant iopamidol samples was achieved with four- to seven-fold acceleration as compared to the conventional CEST methods. In vivo, amide proton transfer (APT) in white matter of healthy human brain was measured rapidly in 48 s and with high frequency resolution (≤ 0.2 ppm).

CONCLUSION

Compared with conventional CEST methods, UCEPR has the advantage of rapidly acquiring high-resolution Z-spectra. Potential in vivo applications include ultrafast localized Z-spectroscopy, quantitative, or dynamic CEST studies.

High-resolution localized spatiotemporal encoding correlated spectra under inhomogeneous magnetic fields via asymmetrical gradient encoding/decoding

Applications of conventional localized nuclear magnetic resonance correlated spectroscopy are restrained by long acquisition times and poor performance under inhomogeneous magnetic fields. Here, a method that combines the spatiotemporal encoding technique with the localization technique and implements the encoding and decoding in unison with suitable asymmetrical gradients is proposed to obtain high-resolution localized correlated spectra under inhomogeneous fields in greatly reduced times. Experiments on phantom solutions prove its insensitivity to linear field inhomogeneities along three orthogonal axes. Moreover, this method is applied to adipose study of marrow tissue with resolution improvements. The proposed method may offer promising perspectives for fast analyses of biological tissues.