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Updated: Oct 11, 2025
High-resolution Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Methods for Human Midbrain
Published on: May 10, 2012
Whole-brain steady-state CEST at 3 T using MR Multitasking
Pei Han1,2, Karandeep Cheema1,2, Hsu-Lei Lee1
1Biomedical Imaging Research Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Purpose:
To perform fast 3D steady-state CEST (ss-CEST) imaging using MR Multitasking.
Methods:
A continuous acquisition sequence with repetitive ss-CEST modules was developed. Each ss-CEST module contains a single-lobe Gaussian saturation pulse, followed by a spoiler gradient and eight FLASH readouts (one "training line" + seven "imaging lines"). Three-dimensional Cartesian encoding was used for k-space acquisition. Reconstructed CEST images were quantified with four-pool Lorentzian fitting.
Results:
Steady-state CEST with whole-brain coverage was performed in 5.6 s per saturation frequency offset at the spatial resolution of 1.7 × 1.7 × 3.0 mm3 . The total scan time was 5.5 min for 55 different frequency offsets. Quantitative CEST maps from multipool fitting showed consistent image quality across the volume.
Conclusion:
Three-dimensional ss-CEST with whole-brain coverage can be done at 3 T within 5.5 min using MR Multitasking.
