title: Chemical exchange saturation transfer MRI using intermolecular double-quantum coherences with multiple refocusing pulses.
abstract: Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) provides a new type of image contrast in MRI. Due to the intrinsically low CEST effect, new and improved experimental techniques are required to achieve reliable and quantitative CEST images. In the present work, we proposed a novel and more sensitive CEST acquisition approach, based on the intermolecular double-quantum coherence with a module of multiple refocusing pulses (iDQC-MRP). Experiments were performed on creatine and egg white phantoms using a Varian 7T animal MRI scanner. The iDQC-MRP CEST technique showed a substantial enhancement in CEST and nuclear Overhauser enhancement (NOE) signal intensities, compared to the standard single-quantum coherence approach. In addition, the iDQC-MRP approach increased the signal-to-noise ratio of acquired saturation images, compared to the conventional iDQC approach. The new iDQC-MRP CEST sequence provides a promising way for exploiting in vivo CEST and NOE imaging applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronic Science, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Plasma and Magnetic Resonance, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China.
authors.forename: Jianhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China.
authors.forename: Congbo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronic Science, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Plasma and Magnetic Resonance, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China. Electronic address: shcai@xmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Shuhui
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronic Science, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Plasma and Magnetic Resonance, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China.
authors.forename: Zhong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. Electronic address: jzhou@mri.jhu.edu.
authors.forename: Jinyuan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000362:Agar / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens; D004529:Egg White / Q000737:chemistry; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D057054:Molecular Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D011522:Protons; D011846:Radio Waves; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D011522:Protons; D014867:Water; D000362:Agar
keywords: CEST; Image contrast; Intermolecular double-quantum coherence; MRI; Nuclear Overhauser enhancement