MR coronary angiography in pigs with intraarterial injections of a hyperpolarized 13C substance.
A new diagnostic application of a water-soluble contrast medium (CM) based on the hyperpolarization of a 13C substance is introduced. The degree of polarization achieved is >30%, which is about a factor of 10(5) higher than the thermal equilibrium polarization level at 1.5 T. Imaging of hyperpolarized (HP) CM during a cardiac interventional MRI procedure was studied. Catheters were positioned in the left and right coronary arteries of pigs. A coil tuned to 13C was used for nonproton imaging. The HP-13C CM ( approximately 5 ml, 0.5 M, approximately 30% polarization) was injected during projection imaging using a fully balanced steady-state free precession (SSFP) pulse sequence with and without cardiac gating. The contrast agent-filled catheter was clearly visible during the procedure. The coronary arteries were well depicted and the signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) were in the range of 10-40. The use of HP-13C CM may provide a new diagnostic procedure for interventional MRI.
Olsson
Lars E
LE
GE Healthcare, Bio Sciences, Medeon, Malmö, Sweden.
Chai
Chun-Ming
CM
Axelsson
Oskar
O
Karlsson
Magnus
M
Golman
Klaes
K
Petersson
J Stefan
JS
D000818:Animals; D002247:Carbon Isotopes / Q000008:administration & dosage; D003287:Contrast Media / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D007269:Injections, Intra-Arterial; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D013552:Swine
D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D003287:Contrast Media