title: RARE imaging of PCr in human forearm muscles.
abstract: Rapid acquisition with relaxation enhancement (RARE) sequences have been used to map the 31P phosphocreatine (PCr) signal in human forearms at 4.7 T. Signal-to-noise levels of approximately 10 were achieved from the major muscle groups in 5.5-minute scan times with a spatial resolution of 4 x 2 x 2 cm3. Exercise caused demonstrable reductions in PCr signal from activated muscles, which correlated with affected muscle groups in T2-weighted proton images. RARE imaging of the PCr signal at 4.7 T is feasible and, with technically achievable improvements in signal-to-noise ratio, should prove useful in studying energy metabolism in muscle and other organs.
authors.affiliation: Harvard-MIT Science and Technology Division, Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chao
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Bowers
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Holtzman
authors.forename: R V
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Mulkern
mesh_terms: D005542:Forearm; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000737:chemistry*; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D010725:Phosphocreatine / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D010725:Phosphocreatine