Absolute thermometry of human brown adipose tissue by magnetic resonance with laser polarized 129Xe

BACKGROUND

Absolute temperature measurements of tissues inside the human body are difficult to perform non-invasively. Yet, for brown adipose tissue (BAT), these measurements would enable direct monitoring of its thermogenic activity and its association with metabolic health.

METHODS

Here, we report direct measurement of absolute BAT temperature in humans during cold exposure by magnetic resonance (MR) with laser polarized xenon gas. This methodology, which leverages on the sensitivity of the chemical shift of the 129Xe isotope to temperature-induced changes in fat density, is first calibrated in vitro and then tested in vivo in rodents. Finally, it is used in humans along with positron emission tomography (PET) scans with fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose to detect BAT thermogenic activity during cold exposure.

RESULTS

Absolute temperature measurements, obtained in rodents with an experimental error of 0.5 °C, show only a median deviation of 0.12 °C against temperature measurements made using a pre-calibrated optical temperature probe. In humans, enhanced uptake of 129Xe in BAT during cold exposure leads to background-free detection of this tissue by MR. Global measurements of supraclavicular BAT temperature, made over the course of four seconds and with an experimental error ranging from a minimum of 0.4 °C to more than 2 °C, in case of poor shimming, reveal an average BAT temperature of 38.8° ± 0.8 °C, significantly higher (p < 0.02 two-sided t test) than 37.7 °C. Hot BAT is also detected in participants with a PET scan negative for BAT.

CONCLUSIONS

Non-invasive, radiation-free measurements of BAT temperature by MRI with hyperpolarized 129Xe may enable longitudinal monitoring of human BAT activity under various stimulatory conditions.

Background-Free Detection of Spin-Exchange Dynamics at Ultra-Low Magnetic Field

Ultra-low field nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and imaging (MRI) inherently suffer from a low signal-to-noise ratio due to the small thermal polarization of nuclear spins. Transfer of polarization from a pre-polarized spin system to a thermally polarized spin system via the Spin Polarization Induced Nuclear Overhauser Effect (SPINOE) could potentially be used to overcome this limitation. SPINOE is particularly advantageous at ultra-low magnetic field, where the transferred polarization can be several orders of magnitude higher than thermal polarization. Here we demonstrate direct detection of polarization transfer from highly polarized 129 Xe gas spins to 1 H spins in solution via SPINOE. At ultra-low field, where thermal nuclear spin polarization is close to background noise levels and where different nuclei can be simultaneously detected in a single spectrum, the dynamics of the polarization transfer can be observed in real time. We show that by simply bubbling hyperpolarized 129 Xe into solution, we can enhance 1 H polarization levels by a factor of up to 151-fold. While our protocol leads to lower enhancements than those previously reported under extreme Xe gas pressures, the methodology is easily repeatable and allows for on-demand enhanced spectroscopy. SPINOE at ultra-low magnetic field could also be employed to study 129 Xe interactions in solutions.

Comparison of single breath hyperpolarized 129 Xe MRI with dynamic 19 F MRI in cystic fibrosis lung disease

Purpose

To quantitatively compare dynamic ¹⁹F and single breath hyperpolarized ¹²⁹Xe MRI for the detection of ventilation abnormalities in subjects with mild cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease.

Methods

Ten participants with stable CF and a baseline FEV1 > 70% completed a single imaging session where dynamic ¹⁹F and single breath ¹²⁹Xe lung ventilation images were acquired on a 3T MRI scanner. Ventilation defect percentages (VDP) values between ¹⁹F early‐breath, ¹⁹F maximum‐ventilation, ¹²⁹Xe low‐resolution, and ¹²⁹Xe high‐resolution images were compared. Dynamic ¹⁹F images were used to determine gas wash‐in/out rates in regions of ventilation congruency and mismatch between ¹²⁹Xe and ¹⁹F.

Results

VDP values from high‐resolution ¹²⁹Xe images were greater than from low‐resolution images (P = .001), although these values were significantly correlated (r = 0.68, P = .03). Early‐breath ¹⁹F VDP and max‐vent ¹⁹F VDP also showed significant correlation (r = 0.75, P = .012), with early‐breath ¹⁹F VDP values being significantly greater (P < .001). No correlation in VDP values were detected between either ¹⁹F method or high‐res ¹²⁹Xe images. In addition, the location and volume of ventilation defects were often different when comparing ¹²⁹Xe and ¹⁹F images from the same subject. Areas of ventilation congruence displayed the expected ventilation kinetics, while areas of ventilation mismatch displayed abnormally slow gas wash‐in and wash‐out.

Conclusion

In CF subjects, ventilation abnormalities are identified by both ¹⁹F and HP ¹²⁹Xe imaging. However, these ventilation abnormalities are not entirely congruent. ¹⁹F and HP ¹²⁹Xe imaging provide complementary information that enable differentiation of normally ventilated, slowly ventilated, and non‐ventilated regions in the lungs.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Techniques for Brown Adipose Tissue Detection

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) methods can non-invasively assess brown adipose tissue (BAT) structure and function. Recently, MRI and MRS have been proposed as a means to differentiate BAT from white adipose tissue (WAT) and to extract morphological and functional information on BAT inaccessible by other means. Specifically, proton MR (¹H) techniques, such as proton density fat fraction mapping, diffusion imaging, and intermolecular multiple quantum coherence imaging, have been employed to access BAT microstructure; MR thermometry, relaxometry, and MRI and MRS with ³¹P, ²H, ¹³C, and ¹²⁹Xe have shown to provide complementary information on BAT function. The purpose of the present review is to provide a comprehensive overview of MR imaging and spectroscopy techniques used to detect BAT in rodents and in humans. The present work discusses common challenges of current methods and provides an outlook on possible future directions of using MRI and MRS in BAT studies.

Magnetic resonance imaging of obesity and metabolic disorders: Summary from the 2019 ISMRM Workshop

More than 100 attendees from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States convened in Singapore for the 2019 ISMRM-sponsored workshop on MRI of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders. The scientific program brought together a multidisciplinary group of researchers, trainees, and clinicians and included sessions in diabetes and insulin resistance; an update on recent advances in water-fat MRI acquisition and reconstruction methods; with applications in skeletal muscle, bone marrow, and adipose tissue quantification; a summary of recent findings in brown adipose tissue; new developments in imaging fat in the fetus, placenta, and neonates; the utility of liver elastography in obesity studies; and the emerging role of radiomics in population-based "big data" studies. The workshop featured keynote presentations on nutrition, epidemiology, genetics, and exercise physiology. Forty-four proffered scientific abstracts were also presented, covering the topics of brown adipose tissue, quantitative liver analysis from multiparametric data, disease prevalence and population health, technical and methodological developments in data acquisition and reconstruction, newfound applications of machine learning and neural networks, standardization of proton density fat fraction measurements, and X-nuclei applications. The purpose of this article is to summarize the scientific highlights from the workshop and identify future directions of work.

Effect of microscopic susceptibility gradients on chemical-shift-based fat fraction quantification in supraclavicular fat

BACKGROUND

Susceptibility differences between fat and water can cause changes in the water-fat frequency separation that can negatively affect the accuracy of fat fraction techniques. This may be especially relevant for brown adipose tissue, as MRI fat fraction techniques have been proposed for its detection.

PURPOSE

To assess the effect of microscopic magnetic susceptibility gradients on the water-fat frequency separation and its impact on chemical-shift-based fat fraction quantification techniques in the supraclavicular fat, where brown adipose tissue is commonly found in humans.

STUDY TYPE

Prospective.

POPULATION/SUBJECTS/PHANTOM/SPECIMEN/ANIMAL MODEL

Subjects: 11 healthy volunteers, mean age of 26 and mean BMI of 23, three overweight volunteers, mean age of 38 and mean BMI of 33. Phantoms: bovine phantom and intralipid fat emulsion. Simulations: various water-fat distributions.

FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE

Six-echo gradient echo chemical-shift-encoded sequence at 3T.

ASSESSMENT

Fat fraction values as obtained from a water-fat spectral model accounting for susceptibility-induced water-fat frequency variations were directly compared to traditional spectral models that assume constant water-fat frequency separation.

STATISTICAL TESTS

Two-tail t-tests were used for significance testing (p < 0.05.) A Bayesian Information Criterion difference of 6 between fits was taken as strong evidence of an improved model.

RESULTS

Phantom experiments and simulation results showed variations of the water-fat frequency separation up to 0.4 ppm and 0.6 ppm, respectively. In the supraclavicular area, the water-fat frequency separation produced by magnetic susceptibility gradients varied by as much as ±0.4 ppm, with a mean of 0.08 ± 0.14 ppm, producing a mean difference in fat fraction of -1.26 ± 5.26%.

DATA CONCLUSION

In the supraclavicular fat depot, microscopic susceptibility gradients that exist within a voxel between water and fat compartments can produce variations in the water-fat frequency separation. These variations may produce fat fraction quantification errors of 5% when a spectral model with a fixed water-fat frequency separation is applied, which could impact MR brown fat techniques.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

1 Technical Efficacy: Stage 1 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2019;49:141-151.

Effects of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles on the longitudinal and transverse relaxation of hyperpolarized xenon gas

SuperParamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles (SPIONs) are often used in magnetic resonance imaging experiments to enhance Magnetic Resonance (MR) sensitivity and specificity. While the effect of SPIONs on the longitudinal and transverse relaxation time of ¹H spins has been well characterized, their effect on highly diffusive spins, like those of hyperpolarized gases, has not. For spins diffusing in linear magnetic field gradients, the behavior of the magnetization is characterized by the relative size of three length scales: the diffusion length, the structural length, and the dephasing length. However, for spins diffusing in non-linear gradients, such as those generated by iron oxide nanoparticles, that is no longer the case, particularly if the diffusing spins experience the non-linearity of the gradient. To this end, 3D Monte Carlo simulations are used to simulate the signal decay and the resulting image contrast of hyperpolarized xenon gas near SPIONs. These simulations reveal that signal loss near SPIONs is dominated by transverse relaxation, with little contribution from T₁ relaxation, while simulated image contrast and experiments show that diffusion provides no appreciable sensitivity enhancement to SPIONs.

Correlation distance dependence of the resonance frequency of intermolecular zero quantum coherences and its implication for MR thermometry

PURPOSE

Because the resonance frequency of water-fat intermolecular zero-quantum coherences (iZQCs) reflects the water-fat frequency separation at the microscopic scale, these frequencies have been proposed and used as a mean to obtain more accurate temperature information. The purpose of this work was to investigate the dependence of the water-fat iZQC resonance frequency on sample microstructure and on the specific choice of the correlation distance.

METHODS

The effect of water-fat susceptibility gradients on the water-methylene iZQC resonance frequency was first computed and then measured for different water-fat emulsions and for a mixture of porcine muscle and fat. Similar measurements were also performed for mixed heteronuclear spin systems.

RESULTS

A strong dependence of the iZQC resonance frequency on the sample microstructure and on the specific choice of the correlation distance was found for spin systems like water and fat that do not mix, but not for spin systems that mix at the molecular level.

CONCLUSIONS

Because water and fat spins do not mix at the molecular level, the water-fat iZQC resonance frequency and its temperature coefficient are not only affected by sample microstructure but also by the specific choice of the correlation distance. Magn Reson Med 79:1429-1438, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

A pilot study on the correlation between fat fraction values and glucose uptake values in supraclavicular fat by simultaneous PET/MRI

PURPOSE

To assess the spatial correlation between MRI and 18F-fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) maps of human brown adipose tissue (BAT) and to measure differences in fat fraction (FF) between glucose avid and non-avid regions of the supraclavicular fat depot using a hybrid FDG-PET/MR scanner.

METHODS

In 16 healthy volunteers, mean age of 30 and body mass index of 26, FF, R2*, and FDG uptake maps were acquired simultaneously using a hybrid PET/MR system while employing an individualized cooling protocol to maximally stimulate BAT.

RESULTS

Fourteen of the 16 volunteers reported BAT-positive FDG-PET scans. MR FF maps of BAT correlate well with combined FDG-PET/MR maps of BAT only in subjects with intense glucose uptake. The results indicate that the extent of the spatial correlation positively correlates with maximum FDG uptake in the supraclavicular fat depot. No consistent, significant differences were found in FF or R2* between FDG avid and non-avid supraclavicular fat regions. In a few FDG-positive subjects, a small but significant linear decrease in BAT FF was observed during BAT stimulation.

CONCLUSION

MR FF, when used in conjunction with FDG uptake maps, can be seen as a valuable, radiation-free alternative to CT and can be used to measure tissue hydration and lipid consumption in some subjects. Magn Reson Med 78:1922-1932, 2017. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Diffusion-mediated 129Xe gas depolarization in magnetic field gradients during continuous-flow optical pumping

The production of large volumes of highly polarized noble gases like helium and xenon is vital to applications of magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy with hyperpolarized (HP) gas in humans. In the past ten years, ¹²⁹Xe has become the gas of choice due to its lower cost, higher availability, relatively high tissue solubility, and wide range of chemical shift values. Though near unity levels of xenon polarization have been achieved in-cell using stopped-flow Spin Exchange Optical Pumping (SEOP), these levels are currently unmatched by continuous-flow SEOP methods. Among the various mechanisms that cause xenon relaxation, such as persistent and transient xenon dimers, wall collisions, and interactions with oxygen, relaxation due to diffusion in magnetic field gradients, caused by rapidly changing magnetic field strength and direction, is often ignored. However, during continuous-flow SEOP production, magnetic field gradients may not have a negligible contribution, especially considering that this methodology requires the combined use of magnets with very different characteristics (low field for spin exchange optical pumping and high field for the reduction of xenon depolarization in the solid state during the freeze out phase) that, when placed together, inevitably create magnetic field gradients along the gas-flow-path. Here, a combination of finite element analysis and Monte Carlo simulations is used to determine the effect of such magnetic field gradients on xenon gas polarization with applications to a specific, continuous-flow hyperpolarization system.

Remote detection of hyperpolarized 129Xe resonances via multiple distant dipolar field interactions with 1H

A remote detection scheme utilizing the distant dipolar field interaction between two different spin species was proposed by Granwehr et al. [J. Magn. Reson. 176(2), 125 (2005)]. In that sequence 1H spins were detected indirectly via their dipolar field interaction with 129Xe spins, which served as the sensing spins. Here we propose a modification of the proposed detection scheme that takes advantage of the longer T1 relaxation time of xenon to create a long lasting dipolar field with which the fast relaxing 1H spins are allowed to interact many times during a single acquisition. This new acquisition scheme improves detection sensitivity, but it also presents some challenges.

Accurate MR thermometry by hyperpolarized 129 Xe

PURPOSE

To investigate the temperature dependence of the resonance frequency of lipid-dissolved xenon (LDX) and to assess the accuracy of LDX-based MR thermometry.

METHODS

The chemical shift temperature dependence of water protons, methylene protons, and LDX was measured from samples containing tissues with varying fat contents using a high-resolution NMR spectrometer. LDX results were then used to acquire relative and absolute temperature maps in vivo and the results were compared with PRF-based MR thermometry.

RESULTS

The temperature dependence of proton resonance frequency (PRF) is strongly affected by the specific distribution of water and fat. A redistribution of water and fat compartments can reduce the apparent temperature dependence of the water chemical shift from -0.01 ppm/°C to -0.006 ppm, whereas the LDX chemical shift shows a consistent temperature dependence of -0.21 ppm/°C. The use of the methylene protons resonance frequency as internal reference improves the accuracy of LDX-based MR thermometry, but degrades that of PRF-based MR thermometry, as microscopic susceptibility gradients affected lipid and water spins differently.

CONCLUSION

The LDX resonance frequency, with its higher temperature dependence, provides more accurate and precise temperature measurements, both in vitro and in vivo. More importantly, the resonance frequency of nearby methylene protons can be used to extract absolute temperature information. Magn Reson Med 78:1070-1079, 2017. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Revisiting the mean-field picture of dipolar effects in solution NMR

For more than three decades, the classical or mean-field picture describing the distant dipolar field has been almost always simplified to an effective field proportional to the local longitudinal magnetization, differing only by a scale factor of 1.5 for homomolecular (identical resonance frequency) and heteromolecular interactions. We re-examine the underlying assumptions, and show both theoretically and experimentally that the mathematical framework needs to be modified for modern applications such as imaging. We demonstrate new pulse sequences which produce unexpected effects; for example, modulating an arbitrarily small fraction of the magnetization can substantially alter the frequency evolution. Thus, matched gradient pulse pairs (a seemingly innocuous module in thousands of existing pulse sequences) can alter the time evolution in highly unexpected ways, particularly with small flip angle pulses such as those used in hyperpolarized experiments. We also show that specific gradient pulse combinations can retain only dipolar interactions between unlike spins, and the dipolar field can generate a secular Hamiltonian proportional to I(x).

Optimized, unequal pulse spacing in multiple echo sequences improves refocusing in magnetic resonance

A recent quantum computing paper (G. S. Uhrig, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 100504 (2007)) analytically derived optimal pulse spacings for a multiple spin echo sequence designed to remove decoherence in a two-level system coupled to a bath. The spacings in what has been called a "Uhrig dynamic decoupling (UDD) sequence" differ dramatically from the conventional, equal pulse spacing of a Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) multiple spin echo sequence. The UDD sequence was derived for a model that is unrelated to magnetic resonance, but was recently shown theoretically to be more general. Here we show that the UDD sequence has theoretical advantages for magnetic resonance imaging of structured materials such as tissue, where diffusion in compartmentalized and microstructured environments leads to fluctuating fields on a range of different time scales. We also show experimentally, both in excised tissue and in a live mouse tumor model, that optimal UDD sequences produce different T(2)-weighted contrast than do CPMG sequences with the same number of pulses and total delay, with substantial enhancements in most regions. This permits improved characterization of low-frequency spectral density functions in a wide range of applications.

Increasing hyperpolarized spin lifetimes through true singlet eigenstates

The sensitivity limitations for magnetic resonance imaging of organic molecules have recently been addressed by hyperpolarization methods, which prepare excess nuclear spin polarization. This approach can increase sensitivity by orders of magnitude, but the enhanced signal relaxes away in tens of seconds, even in favorable cases. Here we show theoretically that singlet states between strongly coupled spins in molecules can be used to store and retrieve population in very-long-lived disconnected eigenstates, as long as the coupling between the spins substantially exceeds both the couplings to other spins and the resonance frequency difference between them. Experimentally, 2,3-carbon-13-labeled diacetyl has a disconnected eigenstate that can store population for minutes and is read out by hydration to make the two spins inequivalent.

Enhanced nonlinear magnetic resonance signals via square wave dipolar fields

This report introduces a new approach that enhances nonlinear solution magnetic resonance signals from intermolecular dipolar interactions. The resulting signals can theoretically be as large as the full equilibrium magnetization. Simple, readily implemented pulse sequences using square-wave magnetization modulation simultaneously refocus all even order intermolecular multiple quantum coherences, leading to a substantial net signal enhancement, complex nonlinear dynamics, and improved structural sensitivity under realistic conditions.

New openings for porous systems research from intermolecular double-quantum NMR

It has been recently recognized that residual intermolecular double-quantum coherences (iDQcs) provide a novel contrast mechanism to study heterogeneity in liquid systems. This is of much interest in the field of the physics of matter and biomedicine. Nowadays, literature concerning the behaviour of the iDQc signal originated by highly heterogeneous systems such as fluids in porous media is scarce. In this paper, we report and discuss our principal results about iDQc signal behaviour in confined liquid systems (trabecular bone, travertine, porous standard systems) and also some new results obtained on doped water in glass capillary pipes.

Intermolecular double-quantum NMR techniques to probe microstructures on porous media

In heterogeneous systems the amplitude of the intermolecular double-quantum (DQ) signal depends on sample heterogeneity over a correlation distance dc=pi/(gammaGct). In this paper two different CRAZED-type sequences were applied in a porous medium phantom. One of these sequences gives rise to a DQ-T2 weighted signal, while the other one gives rise to a DQ-T2* weighted signal. Experimental results indicate that tuning of the correlation distance dc in a porous medium can alter the DQ signal in a manner which depends on the microstructure. This is evident only using the CRAZED-type sequence which gives rise to a DQ-T2* weighted signal.