Abstract
Phosphocreatine (PCr) plays a vital role in neuron and myocyte energy homeostasis. Currently, there are no routine diagnostic tests to noninvasively map PCr distribution with clinically relevant spatial resolution and scan time. Here, we demonstrate that artificial neural network-based chemical exchange saturation transfer (ANNCEST) can be used to rapidly quantify PCr concentration with robust immunity to commonly seen MRI interferences. High-quality PCr mapping of human skeletal muscle, as well as the information of exchange rate, magnetic field and radio-frequency transmission inhomogeneities, can be obtained within 1.5 min on a 3 T standard MRI scanner using ANNCEST. For further validation, we apply ANNCEST to measure the PCr concentrations in exercised skeletal muscle. The ANNCEST outcomes strongly correlate with those from 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy (R = 0.813, p < 0.001, t test). These results suggest that ANNCEST has potential as a cost-effective and widely available method for measuring PCr and diagnosing related diseases.
Highlights
Phosphocreatine (PCr) plays a vital role in neuron and myocyte energy homeostasis
31 magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31P MRS) is not available on most magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners in clinical practice due to additional hardware costs associated with 31P excitation/detection that are not used in clinical 1H MRI scanners, the significant expense of broadband transmitting/receiving hardware, and the impracticality of having to switch coils in a clinical setting
We show the feasibility of applying artificial neural network-based chemical exchange saturation transfer (ANNCEST) to simultaneously quantify the PCr concentration of human skeletal muscle, the exchange rate of the guanidinium protons from PCr, and the B0 and B1 maps on a clinical 3 T MRI scanner
Summary
Phosphocreatine (PCr) plays a vital role in neuron and myocyte energy homeostasis. Currently, there are no routine diagnostic tests to noninvasively map PCr distribution with clinically relevant spatial resolution and scan time. The ANNCEST outcomes strongly correlate with those from 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy (R = 0.813, p < 0.001, t test) These results suggest that ANNCEST has potential as a costeffective and widely available method for measuring PCr and diagnosing related diseases. Currently, there are no routine diagnostic tests to noninvasively quantify or map the distribution of PCr in tissue with clinically relevant spatial resolution and scan time. To explore and develop highquality PCr mapping using CEST for clinical practice at low field strengths, optimization of the PCr CEST acquisition is required, and the quantification method needs to be robust against the inevitable static magnetic field (B0) and radio-frequency transmit field (B1) inhomogeneities, as well as interference from other saturation transfer components in tissues
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