Fast 19F spectroscopic imaging with pseudo‐spiral k‐space sampling

• Published in: NMR in biomedicine Vol. 37; no. 4
• Main Authors: Yildirim, Muhammed, Kovalyk, Xenia, Scholtz, Patrick, Schütz, Markus, Lindemeyer, Johannes, Lamerichs, Rolf, Grüll, Holger, Isik, Esin Ozturk
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-04-2024
• Subjects: 19F MRI; Broadband; Chemical equilibrium; Criteria; Dilution; fast MRSI; Fluorine; Ghosting; Hot spots; Image acquisition; Imaging techniques; Localization; Magnetic resonance imaging; Microspheres; Object visibility; Optimization; Parameter identification; Polymers; Precision medicine; pseudo‐spiral k‐space trajectory; Sensitivity analysis; Sequences; spectroscopic imaging; Spectroscopy
• ISSN: 0952-3480; 1099-1492
• DOI: 10.1002/nbm.5086

Fluorine MRI is finding wider acceptance in theranostics applications where imaging of 19F hotspots of fluorinated contrast material is central. The essence of such applications is to capture ghosting‐artifact‐free images of the inherently low MR response under clinically viable conditions. To serve this purpose, this work introduces the balanced spiral spectroscopic imaging (BaSSI) sequence, which is implemented on a 3.0 T clinical scanner and is capable of generating 19F hotspot images in an efficient manner. The sequence utilizes an all‐phase‐encoded pseudo‐spiral k‐space trajectory, enabling the acquisition of broadband (80 ppm) fluorine spectra free from chemical shift ghosting. BaSSI can acquire a 64 × 64 image with 1 mm × 1 mm voxels in just 14 s, significantly outperforming typical MRSI sequences used in 1H or 31P imaging. The study employed in silico characterization to verify essential design choices such as the excitation pulse, as well as to identify the boundaries of the parameter space explored for optimization. BaSSI's performance was further benchmarked against the 3D ultrashort‐echo‐time balanced steady‐state free precession (3D UTE BSSFP) sequence, a well established method used in 19F MRI, in vitro. Both sequences underwent extensive optimization through exploration of a wide parameter space on a small phantom containing 10 μL of non‐diluted bulk perfluorooctylbromide (PFOB) prior to comparative experiments. Subsequent to optimization, BaSSI and 3D UTE BSSFP were employed to capture images of small non‐diluted bulk PFOB samples (0.10 and 0.05 μL), with variations in the number of signal averages, and thus the total scan time, in order to assess the detection sensitivities of the sequences. In these experiments, the detection sensitivity was evaluated using the Rose criterion (Rc), which provides a quantitative metric for assessing object visibility. The study further demonstrated BaSSI's utility as a (pre)clinical tool through postmortem imaging of polymer microspheres filled with PFOB in a BALB/c mouse. Anatomic localization of 19F hotspots was achieved by denoising raw data obtained with BaSSI using a filter based on the Rose criterion. These data were then successfully registered to 1H anatomical images. BaSSI demonstrated superior detection sensitivity in the benchmarking analysis, achieving Rc values approximately twice as high as those obtained with the 3D UTE BSSFP method. The technique successfully facilitated imaging and precise localization of 19F hotspots in postmortem experiments. However, it is important to highlight that imaging 10 mM PFOB in small mice postmortem, utilizing a 48 × 48 × 48 3D scan, demanded a substantial scan time of 1 h and 45 min. Further studies will explore accelerated imaging techniques, such as compressed sensing, to enhance BaSSI's clinical utility.
BaSSI: A fast MRSI sequence with pseudo‐spiral k‐space trajectory for sensitive 19F‐hotspot imaging on a 3.0 T clinical system. With its wide spectral range (~80 ppm) and extremely short core sequence, BaSSI can acquire a 64 × 64 image with 1 mm × 1 mm voxels in 14 s (NSA: 1). The sequence is benchmarked against 3D UTE BSSFP on minute amounts of PFOB, and is proven to deliver superior detection sensitivity that is quantified by the Rose criterion.