Synopsis
Non-proton MRI has
recently been of great interest with the increased availability of ultra high-field
MRI system. A translational multinuclear MRI system for 1H, 13C,
17O, 19F, 23Na and 31P was developed
using six optimised single-tuned RF resonator sets and implemented at the home-assembled
9.4T small animal MRI scanner. This system demonstrated its capability of identifying
the concentration difference and sensitivity of these X-nuclei without signal-to-noise-ratio
loss for any nuclei, subject interruption and degrading in the static shim condition.
Purpose/Introduction
Non-proton MRI
offers unique metabolic and cellular information of tissues. However, due to
its lower MR sensitivity and natural abundance, it is a challenging task.
Recent advanced development and increased availability of ultra high-field MRI
scanners enable conducting non-proton MR researches with further improved
sensitivity.
1,2 In order to carry out multinuclear MR experiments,
additional hardware, such as an RF coil and a T/R switch for each nucleus is crucial.
The double/triple-tuned RF probe using trap or PIN diode circuits is typically
utilised, but this approach degrades image quality compared to a single-tuned
coil and limits the available nuclei to two/three at a full measurement.
3,4
The single-tuned concepts using surface
5 and volume coils
6
were introduced but these require moving the patient or anaesthetised animal in
and out during the scan which requires precise repositioning to avoid
registration issues or a degradation in the static shim. In this work, we designed
and implemented the required hardware for multinuclear MR imaging experiment
utilising six single-tuned coil sets and a tailored designed animal bed. Here,
the coils can be removed without disturbing the animal bed or its positioning
thereby ensuring that repositioning and reshimming are not required.
Methods
As shown in Figure
1, six shielded, identical, circularly polarised high-pass birdcage coils including
T/R switches were built and tuned to each corresponding nucleus (
1H,
13C,
17O,
19F,
23Na and
31P).
The dedicated animal bed and the coil/phantom holder were designed using the
in-house 3D printer in order to minimise loss due to the filling factor and to precisely
duplicate the coil cases. These were implemented into the home-integrated 9.4T small
animal MRI scanner (Agilent magnet/gradient system with Siemens electronics and
software). The coil set was inserted and replaced from the rear side of the
magnet to avoid disturbance of the anaesthetised animal and to maintain it in
the same position. Coil switch-over between nuclei was completed in less than a
minute. A multi-sample phantom was prepared with seven 2 ml eppendorf tubes
containing 30 and 50 mM NaCl, 0.1% enriched
17O, 12 mM Na
3PO
4,
75 mM NaF, 4% agarose gel and 1 mM CuSO
4 as a control. Standard adjustment,
mainly shimming was performed using the
1H coil prior to multinuclear
experiments and the optimised shim data were utilised for each nucleus during
the acquisition.
Results
The pilot and T
2-weighted
proton images were acquired using a gradient echo (TR/TE = 80/3.76 ms, 4 avg.,
400 µm x 400 µm x 1 mm resolution) and a turbo spin echo (TR/TE = 3000/38 ms, 4
avg., 400 µm x 400 µm x 1 mm resolution, scan time = 3:21 minutes) sequence,
respectively. Multinuclear MR images were obtained with the gradient echo (TR/TE
= 130/3.61 ms, 128 Avg., 1 x 1 x 1 mm resolution, Scan time ~ 9:27 minutes) for
23Na and a 3D FLASH for both
17O (TR/TE = 30/2.43 ms, 94
Avg., 1 x 1 x 1 mm resolution, Scan time ~ 15:51 minutes) and
19F
(TR/TE = 500/3.69 ms, 64 Avg., 1 x 1 x 1 mm resolution, Scan time ~ 20:20). The
31P spectrum was also obtained from the Na3PO4 sample
by the use of an image-selected in vivo spectroscopy sequence (TR/TE =
10000/0.35 ms, 56 Avg., Scan time ~ 10 minutes). The concentration difference and
sensitivity of these X-nuclei are clearly identified and is evaluated in Figure
2. For example, 30 and 50 mM NaCl, 75 mM NaF and 12 mM Na
3PO
4
phantoms containing different amounts of sodium are visualised by
23Na
imaging while
19F MRI detects the signal only from the NaF phantom.
Since the phantoms are aqueous, all appear on the
17O image.
Discussion/Conclusions
Although the coil set
has to be swapped between measurements, the simple hardware provides a number
of benefits which are no signal-to-noise-ratio loss for any nuclei, no subject
interruption, maintaining excellent shimming condition, and easy to expand for other nuclei. This multinuclear system allows us
to continue working on
in vivo animal
studies in order to characterise various cellular processes, such as oxygen
consumption (
17O), ATP quantification (
31P), glycogen detection
(
13C), cell tracking mechanisms (
19F) and the
functionality of sodium (
23Na) in different pathological conditions.
Acknowledgements
No acknowledgement found.References
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