Creating a clinical platform for carbon-13 studies using the sodium-23 and proton resonances #DNPNMR
 

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Creating a clinical platform for carbon-13 studies using the sodium-23 and proton resonances #DNPNMR

Grist, James T., Esben S.S. Hansen, Juan D. Sánchez-Heredia, Mary A. McLean, Rasmus Tougaard, Frank Riemer, Rolf F. Schulte, et al. “Creating a Clinical Platform for Carbon-13 Studies Using the Sodium-23 and Proton Resonances.” Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, March 13, 2020, mrm.28238.


https://doi.org/10.1002/mrm.28238.


Purpose: Calibration of hyperpolarized 13C-MRI is limited by the low signal from endogenous carbon-containing molecules and consequently requires 13C-enriched external phantoms. This study investigated the feasibility of using either 23Na-MRI or 1H-MRI to calibrate the 13C excitation.


Methods: Commercial 13C-coils were used to estimate the transmit gain and center frequency for 13C and 23Na resonances. Simulations of the transmit B1 profile of a Helmholtz loop were performed. Noise correlation was measured for both nuclei. A retrospective analysis of human data assessing the use of the 1H resonance to predict [1-13C]pyruvate center frequency was also performed. In vivo experiments were undertaken in the lower limbs of 6 pigs following injection of hyperpolarized 13C-pyruvate.


Results: The difference in center frequencies and transmit gain between tissue 23Na and [1-13C]pyruvate was reproducible, with a mean scale factor of 1.05179 ± 0.00001 and 10.4 ± 0.2 dB, respectively. Utilizing the 1H water peak, it was possible to retrospectively predict the 13C-pyruvate center frequency with a standard deviation of only 11 Hz sufficient for spectral–spatial excitation-based studies.


Conclusion: We demonstrate the feasibility of using the 23Na and 1H resonances to calibrate the 13C transmit B1 using commercially available 13C-coils. The method provides a simple approach for in vivo calibration and could improve clinical workflow.


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