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Updated: Oct 19, 2025

Rapid Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing by Stimulated Raman Scattering Imaging of Deuterium Incorporation in a Single Bacterium
Published on: February 14, 2022
Deuterium Metabolic Imaging-Rediscovery of a Spectroscopic Tool
Ilona Polvoy1, Hecong Qin1, Robert R Flavell1
1Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California, 185 Berry St., San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.
Abstract:
The growing demand for metabolism-specific imaging techniques has rekindled interest in Deuterium (2H) Metabolic Imaging (DMI), a robust method based on administration of a substrate (glucose, acetate, fumarate, etc.) labeled with the stable isotope of hydrogen and the observation of its metabolic fate in three-dimensions. This technique allows the investigation of multiple metabolic processes in both healthy and diseased states. Despite its low natural abundance, the short relaxation time of deuterium allows for rapid radiofrequency (RF) pulses without saturation and efficient image acquisition. In this review, we provide a comprehensive picture of the evolution of DMI over the course of recent decades, with a special focus on its potential clinical applications.
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