Elena Vinogradov1, Robert E. Lenkinski1
1Department of Radiology,
Chemical
Exchange Saturation Contrast utilizes selective presaturation of a small pool
of exchanging protons and is manifested in the decrease of the free water
signal. Recently, CEST method has been applied successfully to detect
glycosaminoglycans (GAG) in cartilage. CEST contrast is negative, resulting
in decreased signal from areas with high agent (GAG) concentration. An
alternative scheme, positive CEST (pCEST), results in the background
suppression and positive contrast when signal is increased due to the
presence of the exchanging agent. Here we evaluate application of the pCEST
to detect GAG in solutions and ex-vivo samples.
Keywords