Diffusion-weighted chemical shift imaging of human brain metabolites at 7T

作者：Ercan Ayse Ece; Techawiboonwong Aranee; Versluis Maarten J; Webb Andrew G; Ronen Itamar^*

来源：Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 2015, 73(6): 2053-2061.

DOI：10.1002/mrm.25346

• diffusion
• chemical shift imaging
• brain metabolites
• tissue microstructure

PurposeDiffusion-weighted chemical shift imaging (DW-CSI) of brain metabolites poses significant challenges associated with the acquisition of spectroscopic data in the presence of strong diffusion weighting gradients. We present a reproducible DW-CSI acquisition and processing scheme that addresses most of the potential sources of instability and provides reproducible and anatomically meaningful diffusion-weighted and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) metabolite maps.
MethodsA real-time navigator-based acquisition scheme was used, allowing instantaneous reacquisition of corrupted k-space data and postprocessing correction of gradient-induced phase fluctuations. Eddy current correction based on residual water resonance was implemented and improved the quality of the data significantly.
ResultsHighly reproducible diffusion-weighted metabolite maps of three highest concentration brain metabolites are shown. The navigator-based accept/reject strategy and the postacquisition corrections improved the stability of the DW-CSI signal and the reproducibility of the resulting DW-CSI maps significantly. The metabolite ADC values could be related to the underlying tissue cellular composition.
ConclusionRobust investigation of DW-CSI of brain metabolites is feasible and may provide information complementary to that obtained from more sensitive but less specific methods such as diffusion tensor imaging. Magn Reson Med 73:2053-2061, 2015.

• 出版日期2015-6