Abstract #1706

3D Ultra-Short TE MRI for Whole Subject Imaging of Perfluorocarbon-Labeled Cell Biodistribution

T. Kevin Hitchens^1,2, Qing Ye¹, Chien Ho^1,2

¹Pittsburgh NMR Center for Biomedical Research, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, United States; ²Department of Biological Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, United States

We applied a 3D ultra-short TE (UTE3D) sequence to image the biodistribution of in vivo perfluorocarbon (VS-1000) labeled immune cells using a hetertopic heart and lung transplantation model in rats. Following direct i.v injection, a ¹⁹F-UTE3D can detect VS-1000 in circulation and at 24 hrs, shows the distribution of labeled cells in the rat. The UTE3D is an efficient technique for 3D imaging and less sensitive motion artifacts than traditional phase encoding of k-space. This technique can be generally applied and the simplicity of animal preparation, and independence of pilot scans is favorable for increased throughput and screening.