Xiaolei Song1,2, Kannie W. Y. Chan1,2,
Guanshu Liu1,3, Dian A. Arifin1,2, Assaf A. Gilad1,2,
Peter C. M. Van Zijl1,3, Jeff W. M. Bulte1,2, Mike T.
McMahon1,3
1Division of MR Research,
The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology & Radiological Science, The
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States; 2Cellular
Imaging Section, Institute for Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University,
Baltimore, MD, United States; 3F.M. Kirby Research Center, Kennedy
Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, United States
We have developed a new method to acquire and process CEST images in regions with field inhomogeneities and motion. Images are acquired with varying the saturation pulse length at only one saturation offset(+∆). Principle component analysis (PCA) is then used to produce contrast maps. The resulting maps have higher CNR values and less artifacts than those produced using saturation offset incrementation, and the scan time is reduced by at least half. To test this method, we transplanted DIACEST microcapsules into the abdomen of mice, and monitored the contrast using both the proposed method and conventional method acquiring multiple frequency offsets.