Chemical Shift Displacement Artifacts Research Articles

SLOW: A novel spectral editing method for whole-brain MRSI at ultra high magnetic field.

PurposeAt ultra‐high field (UHF), B1 +‐inhomogeneities and high specific absorption rate (SAR) of adiabatic slice‐selective RF‐pulses make spatial resolved spectral‐editing extremely challenging with the conventional MEGA‐approach. The purpose of the study was to develop a whole‐brain resolved spectral‐editing MRSI at UHF (UHF, B 0 ≥ 7T) within clinical acceptable measurement‐time and minimal chemical‐shift‐displacement‐artifacts (CSDA) allowing for simultaneous GABA/Glx‐, 2HG‐, and PE‐editing on a clinical approved 7T‐scanner.MethodsSlice‐selective adiabatic refocusing RF‐pulses (2π‐SSAP) dominate the SAR to the patient in (semi)LASER based MEGA‐editing sequences, causing large CSDA and long measurement times to fulfill SAR requirements, even using SAR‐minimized GOIA‐pulses. Therefore, a novel type of spectral‐editing, called SLOW‐editing, using two different pairs of phase‐compensated chemical‐shift selective adiabatic refocusing‐pulses (2π‐CSAP) with different refocusing bandwidths were investigated to overcome these problems.ResultsCompared to conventional echo‐planar spectroscopic imaging (EPSI) and MEGA‐editing, SLOW‐editing shows robust refocusing and editing performance despite to B 1 + ‐inhomogeneity, and robustness to B 0‐inhomogeneities (0.2 ppm ≥ ΔB 0 ≥ −0.2 ppm). The narrow bandwidth (∼0.6–0.8 kHz) CSAP reduces the SAR by 92%, RF peak power by 84%, in‐excitation slab CSDA by 77%, and has no in‐plane CSDA. Furthermore, the CSAP implicitly dephases water, lipid and all the other signals outside of range (≥ 4.6 ppm and ≤1.4 ppm), resulting in additional water and lipid suppression (factors ≥ 1000s) at zero SAR‐cost, and no spectral aliasing artifacts.ConclusionA new spectral‐editing has been developed that is especially suitable for UHF, and was successfully applied for 2HG, GABA+, PE, and Glx‐editing within 10 min clinical acceptable measurement time.

19F MRI Imaging Strategies to Reduce Isoflurane Artifacts in In Vivo Images

PurposeIsoflurane (ISO) is the most commonly used preclinical inhalation anesthetic. This is a problem in 19F MRI of fluorine contrast agents, as ISO signals cause artifacts that interfere with unambiguous image interpretation and quantification; the two most attractive properties of heteronuclear MRI. We aimed to avoid these artifacts using MRI strategies that can be applied by any pre-clinical researcher.ProceduresThree strategies to avoid ISO chemical shift displacement artifacts (CSDA) in 19F MRI are described and demonstrated with measurements of 19F-containing agents in phantoms and in vivo (n = 3 for all strategies). The success of these strategies is compared to a standard Rapid Acquisition with Relaxation Enhancement (RARE) sequence, with phantom and in vivo validation. ISO artifacts can successfully be avoided by (1) shifting them outside the region of interest using a narrow signal acquisition bandwidth, (2) suppression of ISO by planning a frequency-selective suppression pulse before signal acquisition or by (3) preventing ISO excitation with a 3D sequence with a narrow excitation bandwidth.ResultsAll three strategies result in complete ISO signal avoidance (p < 0.0001 for all methods). Using a narrow acquisition bandwidth can result in loss of signal to noise ratio and distortion of the image, and a frequency-selective suppression pulse can be incomplete when B1-inhomogeneities are present. Preventing ISO excitation with a narrow excitation pulse in a 3D sequence yields the most robust results (relative SNR 151 ± 28% compared to 2D multislice methods, p = 0.006).ConclusionWe optimized three easily implementable methods to avoid ISO signal artifacts and validated their performance in phantoms and in vivo. We make recommendation on the parameters that pre-clinical studies should report in their method section to make the used approach insightful.

Dynamic metabolic imaging of copolarized [2-13 C]pyruvate and [1,4-13 C2 ]fumarate using 3D-spiral CSI with alternate spectral band excitation.

Developing a method for simultaneous metabolic imaging of copolarized [2-13 C]pyruvate and [1,4-13 C2 ]fumarate without chemical shift displacement artifacts that also permits different excitation flip angles for substrates and their metabolic products. The proposed pulse sequence consists of 2 frequency-selective radiofrequency pulses to alternatingly excite 2 spectral sub-bands each one followed by a fast 3D spiral CSI (3D-spCSI) readout. Spectrally selective radiofrequency pulses were designed to excite differential flip angles on substrates and products in each spectral sub-band. Number of signal averages analysis was used to determine a spectral width suitable to resolve the metabolites of interest in each of the sub-bands. Phantom experiments verified the copolarization strategy and radiofrequency pulse design following differential flip angle used in our method. The signal behavior of the resonances in each sub-band was unaffected by the excitation of the respective alternate frequency band. Dynamic 3D 13 C CSI data demonstrated the ability of the sequence to image metabolites like pyruvate-hydrate, lactate, alanine, fumarate, and malate simultaneously and detect metabolic changes in the liver in a rat model of carbon tetrachloride-induced liver damage. The presented method allows the dynamic CSI of a mixture of [2-13 C]pyruvate and [1,4-13 C2 ]fumarate without chemical shift displacement artifacts while also permitting the use of different flip angles for substrate and product signals. The method is potentially useful for combined in vivo imaging of inflammation and cell necrosis.

Chemical shift encoding (CSE) for sensitive fluorine-19 MRI of perfluorocarbons with complex spectra.

To implement a fluorine-19 (19 F) chemical shift encoding (CSE) approach for the sensitive imaging of molecules with multi-resonance spectra to remove their chemical shift displacement (CSD) artifacts, and to characterize its sensitivity versus established pulse sequences. The feasibility of CSE spoiled gradient echo (GRE) and balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) was first demonstrated in a phantom study. The dependence of the sensitivity of CSE-bSSFP on several pulse sequence parameters was then established, after which the occurrence of out-of-plane excitation was assessed for 2D and 3D techniques. Next, the sensitivity (in mm-3 s-0.5 ) of both CSE techniques was compared to bSSFP ultrashort echo time (bSSFP-UTE) imaging and multi-chemical-shift-selective turbo spin echo (MCSS-TSE) in a second phantom study. Finally, the sensitivity of the CSE-bSSFP, bSSFP-UTE, and MCSS-TSE pulse sequences was compared in a preliminary in vivo mouse study. Both CSE approaches were successfully implemented and resulted in negligible residual CSD artifacts, while large-volume 3D acquisitions should be considered to reduce problems related to out-of-plane excitation. CSE-bSSFP was shown to have a higher sensitivity than the bSSFP-UTE and MCSS-TSE pulse sequences (15.8 ± 1.3 vs. 11.7 ± 1.0 vs. 13.3 ± 0.9 mm-3 s-0.5 , respectively, P < 0.001), whereas CSE-GRE technique had a lower sensitivity (4.8 ± 1.1 mm-3 s-0.5 ). CSE 19 F MR imaging enables the unambiguous visualization of compounds with complex spectra, and provides high sensitivity both in vitro and in vivo. Magn Reson Med 79:2724-2730, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Volumetric spiral chemical shift imaging of hyperpolarized [2-(13) c]pyruvate in a rat c6 glioma model.

MRS of hyperpolarized [2-(13)C]pyruvate can be used to assess multiple metabolic pathways within mitochondria as the (13)C label is not lost with the conversion of pyruvate to acetyl-CoA. This study presents the first MR spectroscopic imaging of hyperpolarized [2-(13)C]pyruvate in glioma-bearing brain. Spiral chemical shift imaging with spectrally undersampling scheme (1042 Hz) and a hard-pulse excitation was exploited to simultaneously image [2-(13)C]pyruvate, [2-(13)C]lactate, and [5-(13)C]glutamate, the metabolites known to be produced in brain after an injection of hyperpolarized [2-(13)C]pyruvate, without chemical shift displacement artifacts. A separate undersampling scheme (890 Hz) was also used to image [1-(13)C]acetyl-carnitine. Healthy and C6 glioma-implanted rat brains were imaged at baseline and after dichloroacetate administration, a drug that modulates pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase activity. The baseline metabolite maps showed higher lactate and lower glutamate in tumor as compared to normal-appearing brain. Dichloroacetate led to an increase in glutamate in both tumor and normal-appearing brain. Dichloroacetate-induced %-decrease of lactate/glutamate was comparable to the lactate/bicarbonate decrease from hyperpolarized [1-(13)C]pyruvate studies. Acetyl-carnitine was observed in the muscle/fat tissue surrounding the brain. Robust volumetric imaging with hyperpolarized [2-(13)C]pyruvate and downstream products was performed in glioma-bearing rat brains, demonstrating changes in mitochondrial metabolism with dichloroacetate.

Dynamic metabolic imaging of hyperpolarized [2‐13C]pyruvate using spiral chemical shift imaging with alternating spectral band excitation

PurposeIn contrast to [1‐13C]pyruvate, hyperpolarized [2‐13C]pyruvate permits the ability to follow the 13C label beyond flux through pyruvate dehydrogenase complex and investigate the incorporation of acetyl‐coenzyme A into different metabolic pathways. However, chemical shift imaging (CSI) with [2‐13C]pyruvate is challenging owing to the large spectral dispersion of the resonances, which also leads to severe chemical shift displacement artifacts for slice‐selective acquisitions.MethodsThis study introduces a sequence for three‐dimensional CSI of [2‐13C]pyruvate using spectrally selective excitation of limited frequency bands containing a subset of metabolites. Dynamic CSI data were acquired alternately from multiple frequency bands in phantoms for sequence testing and in vivo in rat heart.ResultsPhantom experiments verified the radiofrequency pulse design and demonstrated that the signal behavior of each group of resonances was unaffected by excitation of the other frequency bands. Dynamic three‐dimensional 13C CSI data demonstrated the sequence capability to image pyruvate, lactate, acetylcarnitine, glutamate, and acetoacetate, enabling the analysis of organ‐specific spectra and metabolite time courses.ConclusionsThe presented method allows CSI of widely separated resonances without chemical shift displacement artifact, acquiring multiple frequency bands alternately to obtain dynamic time‐course information. This approach enables robust imaging of downstream metabolic products of acetyl‐coenzyme A with hyperpolarized [2‐13C]pyruvate. Magn Reson Med 71:2051–2058, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Improved efficiency on editing MRS of lactate and γ‐aminobutyric acid by inclusion of frequency offset corrected inversion pulses at high fields

γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) and lactate are metabolites which are present in the brain. These metabolites can be indicators of psychiatric disorders or tumor hypoxia, respectively. The measurement of these weakly coupled spin systems can be performed using MRS editing techniques; however, at high field strength, this can be challenging. This is due to the low available B1 (+) field at high fields, which results in narrow-bandwidth refocusing pulses and, consequently, in large chemical shift displacement artifacts. In addition, as a result of the increased chemical shift displacement artifacts and chemical shift dispersion, the efficiency of the MRS method is reduced, even when using adiabatic refocusing pulses. To overcome this limitation, frequency offset corrected inversion (FOCI) pulses have been suggested as a mean to substantially increase the bandwidth of adiabatic pulses. In this study, a Mescher-Garwood semi-localization by adiabatic selection and refocusing (MEGA-sLASER) editing sequence with refocusing FOCI pulses is presented for the measurement of GABA and lactate in the human brain. Metabolite detection efficiencies were improved by 20% and 75% for GABA and lactate, respectively, when compared with editing techniques that employ adiabatic radiofrequency refocusing pulses. The highly efficient MEGA-sLASER sequence with refocusing FOCI pulses is an ideal and robust MRS editing technique for the measurement of weakly coupled metabolites at high field strengths.

Composite slice‐selective adiabatic excitation for prostate MRSI

Higher magnetic field strengths, such as 7 T, offer increased spectral resolution and higher signal-to-noise ratio. These properties can be very advantageous for MRSI. In particular, signals that generally overlap at lower fields, such as choline, polyamines and creatine, can be resolved at 7 T. However, higher magnetic field strengths suffer from strong radiofrequency (RF) field nonuniformities. These nonuniformities become even stronger when using surface transceivers, such as an endorectal coil for prostate imaging. In order to obtain uniform excitations for accurate MRSI measurements, adiabatic sequences are therefore recommended. Conventional adiabatic MRS sequences (i.e. localization by adiabatic selective refocusing, LASER) have relatively long TEs, especially when optimized to measure the strongly coupled spins of citrate in the prostate. The semi-LASER (sLASER) sequence has a significantly shorter TE, although it does not provide adiabatic excitation. Therefore, we propose an adiabatic sLASER sequence that either has a composite adiabatic slice-selective excitation (cLASER) or a non-slice-selective adiabatic excitation (nsLASER), allowing for shorter TEs, whilst maintaining the adiabatic spin excitation. Furthermore, the spatial properties of the composite adiabatic excitation allow for a high slice excitation bandwidth, resulting in negligible chemical shift displacement artifacts. Exclusion of the slice selection can be considered once the field of view extends beyond the transmit field of the RF coil. The use of a transceiver at high magnetic field strengths has shown that the cLASER and nsLASER sequences are suitable for MRSI of the prostate in both phantom and in vivo validations.

Spin-echo magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging at 7 T with frequency-modulated refocusing pulses.

Two approaches to high-resolution SENSE-encoded magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) of the human brain at 7 Tesla (T) with whole-slice coverage are described. Both sequences use high-bandwidth radiofrequency pulses to reduce chemical shift displacement artifacts, SENSE-encoding to reduce scan time, and dual-band water and lipid suppression optimized for 7 T. Simultaneous B0 and transmit B1 mapping was also used for both sequences to optimize field homogeneity using high-order shimming and determine optimum radiofrequency transmit level, respectively. One sequence ("Hahn-MRSI") used reduced flip angle (90°) refocusing pulses for lower radiofrequency power deposition, while the other sequence used adiabatic fast passage refocusing pulses for improved sensitivity and reduced signal dependence on the transmit-B1 level. In four normal subjects, adiabatic fast passage-MRSI showed a signal-to-noise ratio improvement of 3.2±0.5 compared to Hahn-MRSI at the same spatial resolution, pulse repetition time, echo time, and SENSE-acceleration factor. An interleaved two-slice Hahn-MRSI sequence is also demonstrated to be experimentally feasible.

SPECIAL semi‐LASER with lipid artifact compensation for 1H MRS at 7 T

The measurement of full metabolic profiles at ultrahigh fields including low concentrated or fast-relaxing metabolites is usually achieved by applying short echo time sequences. One sequence beside stimulated echo acquisition mode that was proposed in this regard is spin echo full intensity-acquired localized spectroscopy. Typical problems that are still persistent for spin echo full intensity-acquired localized spectroscopy are B(1) inhomogeneities especially for signal acquisition with surface coils and chemical shift displacement artifacts due to limited B(1) amplitudes when using volume coils. In addition, strong lipid contaminations in the final spectrum can occur when only a limited number of outer volume suppression pulses is used. Therefore, an adiabatic short echo time (= 19 ms) spin echo full intensity-acquired localized spectroscopy semilocalization by adiabatic selective refocusing sequence is presented that is less sensitive to strong B(1) variations and that offers increased excitation and refocusing pulse bandwidths than regular spin echo full intensity acquired localized spectroscopy. Furthermore, the existence of the systematic lipid artifact is identified and linked to unfavorable effects due to the preinversion localization pulse. A method to control this artifact is presented and validated in both phantom and in vivo measurements. The viability of the proposed sequence was further assessed for in vivo measurements by scanning 17 volunteers using a surface coil and moreover acquiring additional volume coil measurements. The results show well-suppressed lipid artifacts, good signal-to-noise ratio, and reproducible fitting results in accordance with other published studies.

Spatially 2D-selective RF excitations using the PROPELLER trajectory: Basic principles and application to MR spectroscopy of irregularly shaped single voxel

Spatially two-dimensional selective radio frequency (2DRF) excitations are able to excite arbitrarily-shaped profiles in their excitation plane and, hence, can be used to minimize partial volume effects in single-voxel magnetic resonance spectroscopy. In this study, 2DRF excitations based on the PROPELLER trajectory which consists of blades of parallel lines that are rotated against each other, are presented. Because the k-space center is covered with each segment, the trajectory yields a high signal efficiency which, e.g., is considerably improved compared to a segmented blipped-planar approach. It is shown that a sampling density correction based on the PROPELLER trajectory's Voronoi diagram suppresses unwanted side excitations. Off-resonance effects like chemical-shift displacement artifacts, can be minimized by applying nonselective refocusing radio frequency pulses between the lines of a blade. With half-Fourier segments, the 2DRF's echo time contribution can be shortened considerably. Thus, robust 2DRF excitations capable of exciting high-resolution profiles at short echo times with high signal efficiency are obtained. Their applicability to MR spectroscopy of an arbitrarily-shaped single voxel is demonstrated in a two-bottle phantom and in the human brain in vivo on a 3 T whole-body MR system.

High‐field MRS of the human brain at short TE and TR

In vivo MRS of the human brain at 7 tesla allows identification of a large number of metabolites at higher spatial resolutions than currently possible at lower field strengths. However, several challenges complicate in vivo localization and artifact suppression in MRS at high spatial resolution within a clinically feasible scan time at 7 tesla. Published MRS sequences at 7 tesla suffer from long echo times, inherent signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) loss, large chemical shift displacement artifacts or long repetition times because of excessive radiofrequency (RF) power deposition. In the present study a pulse-acquire sequence was used that does not suffer from these high field drawbacks. A slice selective excitation combined with high resolution chemical shift imaging for in-plane localization was used to limit chemical shift displacement artifacts. The pulse-acquire approach resulted in a very short echo time of 1.4 ms. A cost function guided shimming algorithm was developed to constrain frequency offsets in the excited slice, therefore adiabatic frequency selective suppression could be employed to minimize artifacts from high intensity lipids and water signals in the excited slice. The high sensitivity at a TR of 1 s was demonstrated both on a supraventricular slice as well as in an area very close to the skull in the frontal cortex at a nominal spatial resolution of 0.25 cc within a feasible scan time.

Short-echo-time magnetic resonance spectroscopy of single voxel with arbitrary shape in the living human brain using segmented two-dimensional selective radiofrequency excitations based on a blipped-planar trajectory

The target regions of single-voxel MR spectroscopy often deviate from the cuboidal volume acquired with localization methods based on cross-sectional RF excitations. To diminish partial volume effects spatially 2D-selective RF excitations (2DRF) have been used to excite anatomically defined regions of interest (ROIs). Thereby, segmentation of the 2DRF has been applied to avoid excessive pulse durations yielding "virtual" excitation profiles that are defined upon averaging multiple acquisitions obtained with the different segments. In this work, the feasibility of segmented 2DRF for single-voxel (1)H-MR spectroscopy of arbitrarily shaped voxel in the living human brain is demonstrated. The 2DRF segments were chosen to cover a single line of a blipped-planar trajectory in order to minimize chemical shift displacement artifacts and achieve standard echo times of 30 ms. To eliminate unwanted side excitations, a refocusing RF excitation in the blip direction was used. Phantom experiments demonstrate the high spatial selectivity achieved, i.e., the absence of significant signal contaminations from regions outside of the target volume. Although the signal obtained per volume is reduced compared to cross-sectional localization, the better volume coverage of anatomically defined ROIs can deliver an improved signal-to-noise ratio for irregularly shaped ROIs.