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Updated: Jul 3, 2025
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Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging at 7 Tesla
Published on: January 6, 2019
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Comprehensive 7 T CEST: A clinical MRI protocol covering multiple exchange rate regimes
Moritz Simon Fabian1, Junaid Rasool Rajput1, Jan-Rüdiger Schüre1
1Institute of Neuroradiology, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany.
NMR in Biomedicine
|February 12, 2024
Summary
This study introduces a comprehensive Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer (CEST) MRI protocol for 7T imaging. The optimized protocol significantly reduces scan time, enabling simultaneous acquisition of multiple molecular contrast maps.
Area of Science:
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging
- Biomedical Engineering
- Molecular Imaging
Background:
- Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer (CEST) MRI visualizes low-concentration solutes by detecting indirect magnetic resonance signals.
- Prior CEST research primarily focused on single exchange regimes, limiting comprehensive molecular imaging.
- Clinical translation of CEST is hindered by long acquisition times and limited exchange regime coverage.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a comprehensive CEST protocol for 7 Tesla (7T) MRI.
- To cover diverse CEST exchange regimes (slow, intermediate, fast) using varied B1 amplitude saturation.
- To significantly reduce scan time while maintaining image quality and contrast for clinical applications.
Main Methods:
- Developed a 7T CEST protocol sensitive to low, intermediate, and high B1 amplitude regimes using pulseq-CEST simulations.
- Implemented advanced post-processing techniques: simultaneous water shift and B1 mapping, B0-fitting, interleaved saturation correction, and deep learning (deepCEST).
- Optimized the protocol to reduce acquisition time from 40 to 15 minutes, enabling simultaneous generation of six CEST contrast maps.
Main Results:
- A comprehensive 7T CEST protocol was successfully established, covering three distinct B1 amplitude regimes.
- Acquisition time was reduced by over 50% without compromising image quality or contrast.
- The protocol demonstrated feasibility in healthy subjects and a patient with a brain tumor, generating multiple CEST contrast maps.
Conclusions:
- The developed comprehensive CEST protocol enables efficient, multi-regime molecular imaging at 7T within clinical scan times.
- This advancement facilitates hypothesis generation for molecular properties in pathologies like ischemic stroke and high-grade brain tumors.
- The protocol represents a significant step towards routine clinical application of advanced CEST MRI.
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