Abstract #3515

Super Stimulated-Echo Preparation for Hyperpolarized 13C Metabolic Imaging

Peder Eric Zufall Larson¹, Adam B. Kerr², Ralph E. Hurd³, John Kurhanewicz¹, John M. Pauly², Daniel B. Vigneron¹

¹Radiology & Biomedical Imaging, UC - San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States; ²Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States; ³Applied Science Laboratory, GE Healthcare, Menlo Park, CA, United States

Stimulated-echoes can be used to provide high sensitivity to diffusion and flow, creating unique contrast, but they inherently suffer from a 50% signal loss. The signal can be improved with a super stimulated-echo, which is more efficient. We have designed a new super stimulated-echo preparation scheme for diffusion and perfusion contrast in hyperpolarized 13C metabolic imaging. These have an expected 60% increase in SNR over a conventional stimulated-echo. By utilizing adiabatic pulse shapes in the preparation, they also have an improved response to B1+ variations. In vivo experiments in transgenic cancer mouse models have shown improved contrast for tumors.