Adrienne Elizabeth Campbell1,2, Alex Li1,
Craig Jones3,4, Robert Bartha1
1Centre for Functional and Metabolic
Mapping, Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London,
Ontario, Canada; 2Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging,
University College London, London , Greater London, United Kingdom; 3F.M.
Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging, Kennedy Krieger
Institute, John Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States; 4Centre
for Functional and Metabolic Mapping, Robarts Research Institute, University
of Western Ontario, London , Ontario, Canada
Paramagnetic
chemical exchange saturation transfer (PARACEST) contrast agents are being
developed for in-vivo MRI. In this study, an accurate in-vivo MRI simulator
was developed and used to optimize a time-course Echo-Planar Imaging (EPI)
scheme. An 8-shot EPI sequence was simulated for the detection of 100μM
and 1mM solutions of Dy3+-DOTAM-GlyLys in vivo. A dynamic EPI
scheme, which alternates between a PARACEST EPI sequence that saturates on
the bound water pool and a control sequence, was optimized to minimize the
SNR requirements for detection. It was determined that EPI schemes may be feasible
for PARACEST detection in-vivo.
Keywords