In Vivo Oxygen-17 (17O) MRI at 7 Tesla

Stefan Hoffmann¹, Paul Begovatz¹, Armin Nagel¹, Reiner Umathum¹, Michael Bock¹

The detection of oxygen-17 (17O) provides a method to assess metabolic tissue information at ultra high fields. In this work direct 17O-MR imaging was carried out in vivo on a 7 Tesla MR system with a custom built head coil. Natural abundance imaging of the human head was performed and global relaxation parameters were measured. An inhalation experiment with enriched 17O gas was carried out using an inhalation-triggered oxygen delivery system. Imaging was performed prior to, during and after the inhalation showing an increase of signal intensity during ventilation with enriched oxygen-17 gas.