A new sequence for single-shot diffusion-weighted NMR spectroscopy by the trace of the diffusion tensor.
Diffusion-weighted spectroscopy is a unique tool for exploring the intracellular microenvironment in vivo. In living systems, diffusion may be anisotropic, when biological membranes exhibit particular orientation patterns. In this work, a volume selective diffusion-weighted sequence is proposed, allowing single-shot measurement of the trace of the diffusion tensor, which does not depend on tissue anisotropy. With this sequence, the minimal echo time is only three times the diffusion time. In addition, cross-terms between diffusion gradients and other gradients are cancelled out. An adiabatic version, similar to localization by adiabatic selective refocusing sequence, is then derived, providing partial immunity against cross-terms. Proof of concept is performed ex vivo on chicken skeletal muscle by varying tissue orientation and intra-voxel shim. In vivo performance of the sequence is finally illustrated in a U87 glioblastoma mouse model, allowing the measurement of the trace apparent diffusion coefficient for six metabolites, including J-modulated metabolites. Although measurement performed along three separate orthogonal directions would bring similar accuracy on trace apparent diffusion coefficient under ideal conditions, the method described here should be useful for probing intimate properties of the cells with minimal experimental bias.
Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (CEA), Institut d'Imagerie Biomédicale (I2BM), Molecular Imaging Research Center (MIRCen), 18 route du panorama, BP n°6, F-92265 Fontenay-aux-Roses, France. julien.valette@cea.fr
Julien
J
Valette
Céline
C
Giraudeau
Charlotte
C
Marchadour
Boucif
B
Djemai
Françoise
F
Geffroy
Mohamed Ahmed
MA
Ghaly
Denis
D
Le Bihan
Philippe
P
Hantraye
Vincent
V
Lebon
Franck
F
Lethimonnier
D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002645:Chickens; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005909:Glioblastoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods*; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D009124:Muscle Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000378:metabolism*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D009124:Muscle Proteins