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Updated: Aug 15, 2026
Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Skeletal Muscle Disease
Published on: December 18, 2016
3D localized lactate detection in muscle tissue using double-quantum filtered 1 H MRS with adiabatic refocusing
Fabian Niess1,2, Sigrun Roat2, Wolfgang Bogner3
1Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Medicine III, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Purpose:
Lactate is a key metabolite in skeletal muscle and whole-body physiology. Its MR visibility in muscle is affected by overlapping lipid signals and fiber orientation. Double-quantum filtered (DQF) 1 H MRS selectively detects lactate at 1.3 ppm, but at ultra-high field the efficiency of slice-selective 3D-localization with conventional RF pulses is limited by bandwidth. This novel 3D-localized 1 H DQF MRS sequence uses adiabatic refocusing pulses to unambiguously detect lactate in skeletal muscle at 7 T.
Methods:
Lactate double-quantum coherences were 3D-localized using slice-selective Shinnar-Le Roux optimized excitation and adiabatic refocusing pulses (similar to semi-LASER). DQF MR spectra were acquired at 7 T from lactate phantoms, meat specimens with injected lactate (exploring multiple TEs and fiber orientations), and human gastrocnemius in vivo during and after exercise (without cuff ischemia).
Results:
Lactate was readily detected, achieving the full potential of 50% signal with a DQF, in solution. The effects of fiber orientation and TE on the lactate doublet (peak splitting, amplitude, and phase) were in good agreement with theory and literature. Exercise-induced lactate accumulation was detected with 30 s time resolution.
Conclusion:
This novel 3D-localized 1 H DQF MRS sequence can dynamically detect glycolytically generated lactate in muscle during exercise and recovery at 7 T.
