High-quality lipid suppression and B0 shimming for human brain 1H MRSI.

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging (MRSI) is a powerful technique that can map the metabolic profile in the brain non-invasively. Extracranial lipid contamination and insufficient B0 homogeneity however hampers robustness, and as a result has hindered widespread use of MRSI in clinical and research settings. Over the last six years we have developed highly effective extracranial lipid suppression methods with a second order gradient insert (ECLIPSE) utilizing inner volume selection (IVS) and outer volume suppression (OVS) methods. While ECLIPSE provides > 100-fold in lipid suppression with modest radio frequency (RF) power requirements and immunity to B1+ field variations, axial coverage is reduced for non-elliptical head shapes. In this work we detail the design, construction, and utility of MC-ECLIPSE, a pulsed second order gradient coil with Z2 and X2Y2 fields, combined with a 54-channel multi-coil (MC) array. The MC-ECLIPSE platform allows arbitrary region of interest (ROI) shaped OVS for full-axial slice coverage, in addition to MC-based B0 field shimming, for robust human brain proton MRSI. In vivo experiments demonstrate that MC-ECLIPSE allows axial brain coverage of 92-95 % is achieved following arbitrary ROI shaped OVS for various head shapes. The standard deviation (SD) of the residual B0 field following SH2 and MC shimming were 25 ± 9 Hz and 18 ± 8 Hz over a 5 cm slab, and 18 ± 5 Hz and 14 ± 6 Hz over a 1.5 cm slab, respectively. These results demonstrate that B0 magnetic field shimming with the MC array supersedes second order harmonic capabilities available on standard MRI systems for both restricted and large ROIs. Furthermore, MC based B0 shimming provides comparable shimming performance to an unrestricted SH5 shim set for both restricted, and 5-cm slab shim challenges. Phantom experiments demonstrate the high level of localization performance achievable with MC-ECLIPSE, with ROI edge chemical shift displacements ranging from 1-3 mm with a median value of 2 mm, and transition width metrics ranging from 1-2.5 mm throughout the ROI edge. Furthermore, MC based B0 shimming is comparable to performance following a full set of unrestricted spherical harmonic fields up to order 5. Short echo time MRSI and GABA-edited MRSI acquisitions in the human brain following MC-shimming and arbitrary ROI shaping demonstrate full-axial slice coverage and extracranial lipid artifact free spectra. MC-ECLIPSE allows full-axial coverage and robust MRSI acquisitions, while allowing interrogation of cortical tissue proximal to the skull, which has significant value in a wide range of neurological and psychiatric conditions.

Design and realization of a multi-coil array for B0 field control in a compact 1.5T head-only MRI scanner.

PURPOSE: To design and implement a multi-coil (MC) array for B0 field generation for image encoding and simultaneous advanced shimming in a novel 1.5T head-only MRI scanner. METHODS: A 31-channel MC array was designed following the unique constraints of this scanner design: The vertically oriented magnet is very short, stopping shortly above the shoulders of a sitting subject, and includes a window for the subject to see through. Key characteristics of the MC hardware, the B0 field generation capabilities, and thermal behavior, were optimized in simulations prior to its construction. The unit was characterized via bench testing. B0 field generation capabilities were validated on a human 4T MR scanner by analysis of experimental B0 fields and by comparing images for several MRI sequences acquired with the MC array to those acquired with the system's linear gradients. RESULTS: The MC system was designed to produce a multitude of linear and nonlinear magnetic fields including linear gradients of up to 10 kHz/cm (23.5 mT/m) with MC currents of 5 A per channel. With water cooling it can be driven with a duty cycle of up to 74% and ramp times of 500 µs. MR imaging experiments encoded with the developed multi-coil hardware were largely artifact-free; residual imperfections were predictable, and correctable. CONCLUSION: The presented compact multi-coil array is capable of generating image encoding fields with amplitudes and quality comparable to clinical systems at very high duty cycles, while additionally enabling high-order B0 shimming capabilities and the potential for nonlinear encoding fields.

Deuterium metabolic imaging of the human brain in vivo at 7 T.

PURPOSE: To explore the potential of deuterium metabolic imaging (DMI) in the human brain in vivo at 7 T, using a multi-element deuterium (2 H) RF coil for 3D volume coverage. METHODS: 1 H-MR images and localized 2 H MR spectra were acquired in vivo in the human brain of 3 healthy subjects to generate DMI maps of 2 H-labeled water, glucose, and glutamate/glutamine (Glx). In addition, non-localized 2 H-MR spectra were acquired both in vivo and in vitro to determine T1 and T2 relaxation times of deuterated metabolites at 7 T. The performance of the 2 H coil was assessed through numeric simulations and experimentally acquired B1 + maps. RESULTS: 3D DMI maps covering the entire human brain in vivo were obtained from well-resolved deuterated (2 H) metabolite resonances of water, glucose, and Glx. The T1 and T2 relaxation times were consistent with those reported at adjacent field strengths. Experimental B1 + maps were in good agreement with simulations, indicating efficient and homogeneous B1 + transmission and low RF power deposition for 2 H, consistent with a similar array coil design reported at 9.4 T. CONCLUSION: Here, we have demonstrated the successful implementation of 3D DMI in the human brain in vivo at 7 T. The spatial and temporal nominal resolutions achieved at 7 T (i.e., 2.7 mL in 28 min, respectively) were close to those achieved at 9.4 T and greatly outperformed DMI at lower magnetic fields. DMI at 7 T and beyond has clear potential in applications dealing with small brain lesions.

Interleaved fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) MRI and deuterium metabolic imaging (DMI) on human brain in vivo.

PURPOSE: To integrate deuterium metabolic imaging (DMI) with clinical MRI through an interleaved MRI and DMI acquisition workflow. Interleaved MRI-DMI was enabled with hardware and pulse sequence modifications, and the performance was demonstrated using fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) MRI as an example. METHODS: Interleaved FLAIR-DMI was developed by interleaving the 2 H excitation and acquisition time windows into the intrinsic delay periods presented in the FLAIR method. All 2 H MR signals were up-converted to the 1 H Larmor frequency using a custom-built hardware unit, which also achieved frequency and phase locking of the output signal in real-time. The interleaved measurements were compared with direct measurements both in phantom and in the human brain in vivo. RESULTS: The interleaved MRI-DMI acquisition strategy allowed simultaneous detection of FLAIR MRI and DMI in the same scan time as a FLAIR-only MRI acquisition. Both phantom and in vivo data showed that the MR image quality, DMI sensitivity as well as information content were preserved using interleaved MRI-DMI. CONCLUSION: The interleaved MRI-DMI technology can be used to extend clinical MRI protocols with DMI, thereby offering a metabolic component to the MR imaging contrasts without a penalty on patient comfort or scan time.

ECLIPSE utilizing gradient-modulated offset-independent adiabaticity (GOIA) pulses for highly selective human brain proton MRSI.

A multitude of extracranial lipid suppression methods exist for proton MRSI acquisitions. Popular and emerging lipid suppression methods each have their inherent set of advantages and disadvantages related to the achievable level of lipid suppression, RF power deposition, insensitivity to B1+ field and lipid T1 heterogeneity, brain coverage, spatial selectivity, chemical shift displacement (CSD) errors and the reliability of spectroscopic data spanning the observed 0.9-4.7 ppm band. The utility of elliptical localization with pulsed second order fields (ECLIPSE) was previously demonstrated with a greater than 100-fold in extracranial lipid suppression and low power requirements utilizing 3 kHz bandwidth AFP pulses. Like all gradient-based localization methods, ECLIPSE is sensitive to CSD errors, resulting in a modified metabolic profile in edge-of-ROI voxels. In this work, ECLIPSE is extended with 15 kHz bandwidth second order gradient-modulated RF pulses based on the gradient offset-independent adiabaticity (GOIA) algorithm to greatly reduce CSD and improve spatial selectivity. An adiabatic double spin-echo ECLIPSE inner volume selection (TE = 45 ms) MRSI method and an ECLIPSE outer volume suppression (TE = 3.2 ms) FID-MRSI method were implemented. Both GOIA-ECLIPSE MRSI sequences provided artifact-free metabolite spectra in vivo, with a greater than 100-fold in lipid suppression and less than 2.6 mm in-plane CSD and less than 3.3 mm transition width for edge-of-ROI voxels, representing an ~5-fold improvement compared with the parent, nongradient-modulated method. Despite the 5-fold larger bandwidth, GOIA-ECLIPSE only required a 1.9-fold increase in RF power. The highly robust lipid suppression combined with low CSD and sharp ROI edge transitions make GOIA-ECLIPSE an attractive alternative to commonly employed lipid suppression methods. Furthermore, the low RF power deposition demonstrates that GOIA-ECLIPSE is very well suited for high field (≥3 T) MRSI applications.

Robust outer volume suppression utilizing elliptical pulsed second order fields (ECLIPSE) for human brain proton MRSI.

PURPOSE: The robust and reliable utilization of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) at high fields is hampered by several key technical difficulties, including contamination from extracranial lipids. To that end, this work presents novel lipid suppression sequences for proton MRSI in the human brain utilizing elliptical localization with pulsed second-order fields (ECLIPSE). METHODS: Two lipid suppression methods were implemented with the ECLIPSE gradient insert. One method is a variable power, 4-pulse sequence optimized to achieve outer volume suppression (OVS) and compared against a standard, 8-slice OVS method. The second ECLIPSE method is implemented as an inversion recovery (IR) sequence with elliptical inner volume selection (IVS) and compared against a global IR method. RESULTS: The ECLIPSE-OVS sequence provided a 116-fold mean lipid suppression (range, 104-134), whereas an optimized 8-slice OVS sequence achieved 15-fold suppression (range, 13-18). Furthermore, the superior ECLIPSE-OVS suppression was achieved at 30% of the radiofrequency (RF) power required by 8-slice OVS. The ECLIPSE-based IR sequence suppressed skull lipids by 155-fold (range, 122-257), compared to 16-fold suppression (range, 14-19) achieved with IR. CONCLUSION: OVS and IVS executed with ECLIPSE provide robust and effective lipid suppression at reduced RF power with high immunity to variations in B1 and T1 .

Dynamic multicoil technique (DYNAMITE) MRI on human brain.

PURPOSE: Spatial encoding for MRI is generally based on linear x, y, and z magnetic field gradients generated by a set of dedicated gradient coils. We recently introduced the dynamic multicoil technique (DYNAMITE) for B0 field control and demonstrated DYNAMITE MRI in a preclinical MR environment. In this study, we report the first realization of DYNAMITE MRI of the in vivo human head. METHODS: Gradient fields for DYNAMITE MRI were generated with a 28-channel multicoil hardware arranged in 4 rows of 7 coils on a cylindrical surface (length 359 mm, diameter 344 mm, maximum 5 A per coil). DYNAMITE MRIs of a resolution phantom and in vivo human heads were acquired with multislice gradient-echo, multislice spin-echo, and 3D gradient-echo sequences. The resultant image fidelity was compared to that obtained with conventional gradient coil technology. RESULTS: DYNAMITE field control enabled the realization of all imaging sequences with average gradient errors ≤ 1%. DYNAMITE MRI provided image quality and sensitivity comparable to conventional gradient technology without any obvious artifacts. Some minor geometric deformations were noticed primarily in the image periphery as the result of regional field imperfections. The imperfections can be readily approximated theoretically through numerical integration of the Biot-Savart law and removed through image distortion correction. CONCLUSION: The first realization of DYNAMITE MRI of the in vivo human head has been presented. The obtained image fidelity is comparable to MRI with conventional gradient coils, paving the way for full-fledged DYNAMITE MRI and B0 shim systems for human applications.

On the magnetic field dependence of deuterium metabolic imaging.

Deuterium metabolic imaging (DMI) is a novel MR-based method to spatially map metabolism of deuterated substrates such as [6,6'-2 H2 ]-glucose in vivo. Compared with traditional 13 C-MR-based metabolic studies, the MR sensitivity of DMI is high due to the larger 2 H magnetic moment and favorable T1 and T2 relaxation times. Here, the magnetic field dependence of DMI sensitivity and transmit efficiency is studied on phantoms and rat brain postmortem at 4, 9.4 and 11.7 T. The sensitivity and spectral resolution on human brain in vivo are investigated at 4 and 7 T before and after an oral dose of [6,6'-2 H2 ]-glucose. For small animal surface coils (Ø 30 mm), the experimentally measured sensitivity and transmit efficiency scale with the magnetic field to a power of +1.75 and -0.30, respectively. These are in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions made from the principle of reciprocity for a coil noise-dominant regime. For larger human surface coils (Ø 80 mm), the sensitivity scales as a +1.65 power. The spectral resolution increases linearly due to near-constant linewidths. With optimal multireceiver arrays the acquisition of DMI at a nominal 1 mL spatial resolution is feasible at 7 T.

Combined imaging and shimming with the dynamic multi-coil technique.

PURPOSE: Spatial encoding and shimming in MRI have traditionally been performed using dedicated coils that generate orthogonal spherical harmonic fields. The recently introduced multi-coil hardware has proven that MRI-relevant magnetic fields can also be created by a generic set of localized coils producing non-orthogonal fields. As a step towards establishing a purely multi-coil-based MRI field generation system, the feasibility of performing conventional Cartesian k-space encoding and echo-planar imaging (EPI), as well as concurrent encoding and shimming is demonstrated in this study. METHODS: We report the use of Dynamic Multi-Coil Technique (DYNAMITE) for combined Cartesian encoding and shimming, and EPI using a 48-channel multi-coil system. Experiments were performed on phantom objects and biological specimens in a 9.4 T pre-clinical scanner. Cartesian Fourier-encoded MRI and EPI were implemented whereby the magnetic fields required for encoding of the three orthogonal spatial dimensions were entirely based on linear combinations of multi-coil fields. Furthermore, DYNAMITE imaging was augmented by concurrent DYNAMITE shimming with the same hardware. RESULTS: DYNAMITE-based MR and echo-planar images were indistinguishable from those acquired with the conventional linear imaging gradients provided by the scanner. In experiments with concurrent DYNAMITE shimming and imaging, shim challenges that would result in extreme spatial distortion and signal loss were corrected very effectively with more than 92% signal recovery in case of extreme Z2 shim challenge that resulted in complete signal dephasing in most slices. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate the first successful implementation of combined DYNAMITE imaging and shimming and show the feasibility of performing EPI with DYNAMITE hardware. Our results substantiate the potential of multi-coil hardware as a full-fledged imaging and shimming system, with additional potential benefits of reduced echo-time and risk of peripheral nerve stimulation while performing EPI.

Elliptical localization with pulsed second-order fields (ECLIPSE) for robust lipid suppression in proton MRSI.

Proton MRSI has great clinical potential for metabolic mapping of the healthy and pathological human brain. Unfortunately, the promise has not yet been fully achieved due to numerous technical challenges related to insufficient spectral quality caused by magnetic field inhomogeneity, insufficient RF transmit power and incomplete lipid suppression. Here a robust, novel method for lipid suppression in 1 H MRSI is presented. The method is based on 2D spatial localization of an elliptical region of interest using pulsed second-order spherical harmonic (SH) magnetic fields. A dedicated, high-amplitude second-order SH gradient setup was designed and constructed, containing coils to generate Z2, X2Y2 and XY magnetic fields. Simulations and phantom MRI results are used to demonstrate the principles of the method and illustrate the manifestation of chemical shift displacement. 1 H MRSI on human brain in vivo demonstrates high quality, robust suppression of extracranial lipids. The method allows a wide range of inner or outer volume selection or suppression and should find application in MRSI, reduced-field-of-view MRI and single-volume MRS.

Detection of cerebral NAD+ in humans at 7T.

PURPOSE: To develop 1 H-based MR detection of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+ ) in the human brain at 7T and validate the 1 H results with NAD+ detection based on 31 P-MRS. METHODS: 1 H-MR detection of NAD+ was achieved with a one-dimensional double-spin-echo method on a slice parallel to the surface coil transceiver. Perturbation of the water resonance was avoided through the use of frequency-selective excitation. 31 P-MR detection of NAD+ was performed with an unlocalized pulse-acquire sequence. RESULTS: Both 1 H- and 31 P-MRS allowed the detection of NAD+ signals on every subject in 16 min. Spectral fitting provided an NAD+ concentration of 107 ± 28 µM for 1 H-MRS and 367 ± 78 µM and 312 ± 65 µM for 31 P-MRS when uridine diphosphate glucose (UDPG) was excluded and included, respectively, as an overlapping signal. CONCLUSIONS: NAD+ detection by 1 H-MRS is a simple method that comes at the price of reduced NMR visibility. NAD+ detection by 31 P-MRS has near-complete NMR visibility, but it is complicated by spectral overlap with NADH and UDPG. Overall, the 1 H- and 31 P-MR methods both provide exciting opportunities to study NAD+ metabolism on human brain in vivo. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. Magn Reson Med 78:828-835, 2017. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Dynamic multi-coil tailored excitation for transmit B1 correction at 7 Tesla.

PURPOSE: Tailored excitation (TEx) based on interspersing multiple radio frequency pulses with linear gradient and higher-order shim pulses can be used to obtain uniform flip angle in the presence of large radio frequency transmission (B 1+) inhomogeneity. Here, an implementation of dynamic, multislice tailored excitation using the recently developed multi-coil nonlinear shim hardware (MC-DTEx) is reported. METHODS: MC-DTEx was developed and tested both in a phantom and in vivo at 7 T, and its efficacy was quantitatively assessed. Predicted outcomes of MC-DTEx and DTEx based on spherical harmonic shims (SH-DTEx) were also compared. RESULTS: For a planned 30 ° flip angle, in a phantom, the standard deviation in excitation improved from 28% (regular excitation) to 12% with MC-DTEx. The SD in in vivo excitation improved from 22 to 12%. The improvements achieved with experimental MC-DTEx closely matched the theoretical predictions. Simulations further showed that MC-DTEx outperforms SH-DTEx for both scenarios. CONCLUSION: Successful implementation of multislice MC-DTEx is presented and is shown to be capable of homogenizing excitation over more than twofold B 1+ variations. Its benefits over SH-DTEx are also demonstrated. A distinct advantage of MC hardware over SH shim hardware is the absence of significant eddy current effects, which allows for a straightforward, multislice implementation of MC-DTEx. Magn Reson Med 76:83-93, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Dynamic multi-coil technique (DYNAMITE) shimming for echo-planar imaging of the human brain at 7 Tesla.

Gradient-echo echo-planar imaging (EPI) is the primary method of choice in functional MRI and other methods relying on fast MRI to image brain activation and connectivity. However, the high susceptibility of EPI towards B0 magnetic field inhomogeneity poses serious challenges. Conventional magnetic field shimming with low-order spherical harmonic (SH) functions is capable of compensating shallow field distortions, but performs poorly for global brain shimming or on specific areas with strong susceptibility-induced B0 distortions such as the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Excellent B0 homogeneity has been demonstrated recently in the human brain at 7 Tesla with the DYNAmic Multi-coIl TEchnique (DYNAMITE) for magnetic field shimming (J Magn Reson (2011) 212:280-288). Here, we report the benefits of DYNAMITE shimming for multi-slice EPI and T2* mapping. A standard deviation of 13Hz was achieved for the residual B0 distribution in the human brain at 7 Tesla with DYNAMITE shimming and was 60% lower compared to conventional shimming that employs static zero through third order SH shapes. The residual field inhomogeneity with SH shimming led to an average 8mm shift at acquisition parameters commonly used for fMRI and was reduced to 1.5-3mm with DYNAMITE shimming. T2* values obtained from the prefrontal and temporal cortices with DYNAMITE shimming were 10-50% longer than those measured with SH shimming. The reduction of the confounding macroscopic B0 field gradients with DYNAMITE shimming thereby promises improved access to the relevant microscopic T2* effects. The combination of high spatial resolution and DYNAMITE shimming allows largely artifact-free EPI and T2* mapping throughout the brain, including prefrontal and temporal lobe areas. DYNAMITE shimming is expected to critically benefit a wide range of MRI applications that rely on excellent B0 magnetic field conditions including EPI-based fMRI to study various cognitive processes and assessing large-scale brain connectivity in vivo. As such, DYNAMITE shimming has the potential to replace conventional SH shim systems in human MR scanners.

Multi-slice MRI with the dynamic multi-coil technique.

To date, spatial encoding for MRI is based on linear X, Y and Z field gradients generated by dedicated X, Y and Z wire patterns. We recently introduced the dynamic multi-coil technique (DYNAMITE) for the generation of magnetic field shapes for biomedical MR applications from a set of individually driven localized coils. The benefits for B0 magnetic field homogenization have been shown, as well as proof of principle of radial and algebraic MRI. In this study the potential of DYNAMITE MRI is explored further and the first multi-slice MRI implementation in which all gradient fields are purely DYNAMITE based is presented. The obtained image fidelity is shown to be virtually identical to that of a conventional MRI system with dedicated X, Y and Z gradient coils. Comparable image quality is a milestone towards the establishment of fully functional DYNAMITE MRI (and shim) systems.

DYNAmic Multi-coIl TEchnique (DYNAMITE) shimming of the rat brain at 11.7 T.

The in vivo rat model is a workhorse in neuroscience research, preclinical studies and drug development. A repertoire of MR tools has been developed for its investigation; however, high levels of B0 magnetic field homogeneity are required for meaningful results. The homogenization of magnetic fields in the rat brain, i.e. shimming, is a difficult task because of a multitude of complex, susceptibility-induced field distortions. Conventional shimming with spherical harmonic (SH) functions is capable of compensating for shallow field distortions in limited areas, e.g. in the cortex, but performs poorly in difficult-to-shim subcortical structures or for the entire brain. Based on the recently introduced multi-coil approach for magnetic field modeling, the DYNAmic Multi-coIl TEchnique (DYNAMITE) is introduced for magnetic field shimming of the in vivo rat brain and its benefits for gradient-echo echo-planar imaging (EPI) are demonstrated. An integrated multi-coil/radiofrequency (MC/RF) system comprising 48 individual localized DC coils for B0 shimming and a surface transceive RF coil has been developed that allows MR investigations of the anesthetized rat brain in vivo. DYNAMITE shimming with this MC/RF set-up is shown to reduce the B0 standard deviation to a third of that achieved with current shim technology employing static first- through third-order SH shapes. The EPI signal over the rat brain increased by 31%, and a 24% gain in usable EPI voxels could be realized. DYNAMITE shimming is expected to critically benefit a wide range of preclinical and neuroscientific MR research. Improved magnetic field homogeneity, together with the achievable large brain coverage of this method, will be crucial when signal pathways, cortical circuitry or the brain's default network are studied. Together with the efficiency gains of MC-based shimming compared with SH approaches demonstrated recently, DYNAMITE shimming has the potential to replace conventional SH shim systems in small-bore animal scanners.

In vivo O-Space imaging with a dedicated 12 cm Z2 insert coil on a human 3T scanner using phase map calibration.

Recently, spatial encoding with nonlinear magnetic fields has drawn attention for its potential to achieve faster gradient switching within safety limits, tailored resolution in regions of interest, and improved parallel imaging using encoding fields that complement the sensitivity profiles of radio frequency receive arrays. Proposed methods can broadly be divided into those that use phase encoding (Cartesian-trajectory PatLoc and COGNAC) and those that acquire nonlinear projections (O-Space, Null space imaging, radial PatLoc, and 4D-RIO). Nonlinear projection data are most often reconstructed with iterative algorithms that backproject data using the full encoding matrix. Just like conventional radial sequences that use linear spatial encoding magnetic fields, nonlinear projection methods are more sensitive than phase encoding methods to imperfect calibration of the encoding fields. In this work, voxel-wise phase evolution is mapped at each acquired point in an O-Space trajectory using a variant of chemical shift imaging, capturing all spin dynamics caused by encoding fields, eddy currents, and pulse timing. Phase map calibration is then applied to data acquired from a high-power, 12 cm, Z2 insert coil with an eight-channel radio frequency transmit-receive array on a 3T human scanner. We show the first experimental proof-of-concept O-Space images on in vivo and phantom samples, paving the way for more in-depth exploration of O-Space and similar imaging methods.

Parallel detection of multi-contrast MRI and Deuterium Metabolic Imaging (DMI) for time-efficient characterization of neurological diseases.

Deuterium Metabolic Imaging (DMI) is a novel method that can complement traditional anatomical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain. DMI relies on the MR detection of metabolites that become labeled with deuterium (2H) after administration of a deuterated substrate and can provide images with highly specific metabolic information. However, clinical adoption of DMI is complicated by its relatively long scan time. Here, we demonstrate a strategy to interleave DMI data acquisition with MRI that results in a comprehensive neuro-imaging protocol without adding scan time. The interleaved MRI-DMI routine includes four essential clinical MRI scan types, namely T1-weighted MP-RAGE, FLAIR, T2-weighted Imaging (T2W) and susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI), interwoven with DMI data acquisition. Phantom and in vivo human brain data show that MR image quality, DMI sensitivity, as well as information content are preserved in the MRI-DMI acquisition method. The interleaved MRI-DMI technology provides full flexibility to upgrade traditional MRI protocols with DMI, adding unique metabolic information to existing types of anatomical image contrast, without extra scan time.

Short symmetric and highly selective asymmetric first and second order gradient modulated offset independent adiabaticity (GOIA) pulses for applications in clinical MRS and MRSI.

Gradient modulated RF pulses, especially gradient offset independent adiabaticity (GOIA) pulses, are increasingly gaining attention for high field clinical magnetic resonance spectroscopy and spectroscopic imaging (MRS/MRSI) due to the lower peak B1 amplitude and associated power demands achievable relative to its non-modulated adiabatic full passage counterparts. In this work we describe the development of two GOIA RF pulses: 1) A power efficient, 3.0 ms wideband uniform rate with smooth truncation (WURST) modulated RF pulse with 15 kHz bandwidth compatible with a clinically feasible peak B1 amplitude of 0.87 kHz (or 20 µT), and 2) A highly selective asymmetric 6.66 ms RF pulse with 20 kHz bandwidth designed to achieve a single-sided, fractional transition width of only 1.7%. Effects of potential asynchrony between RF and gradient-modulated (GM) waveforms for 3 ms GOIA-WURST RF pulses was evaluated by simulation and experimentally. Results demonstrate that a 20+ µs asynchrony between RF and GM functions substantially degrades inversion performance when using large RF offsets to achieve translation. A projection-based method is presented that allows a quick calibration of RF and GM asynchrony on pre-clinical/clinical MR systems. The asymmetric GOIA pulse was implemented within a multi-pulse OVS sequence to achieve power efficient, highly-selective, and B1 and T1-independent signal suppression for extracranial lipid suppression. The developed GOIA pulses were utilized with linear gradient modulation (X, Y, Z gradient fields), and with second-order-field modulations (Z2, X2Y2 gradient fields) to provide elliptically-shaped regions-of-interest for MRS and MRSI acquisitions. Both described GOIA-RF pulses have substantial clinical value; specifically, the 3.0 ms GOIA-WURST pulse is beneficial to realize short TE sLASER localized proton MRS/MRSI sequences, and the asymmetric GOIA RF pulse has applications in highly selective outer volume signal suppression to allow interrogation of tissue proximal to extracranial lipids with full-intensity.

Multicoil shimming of the mouse brain.

MR imaging and spectroscopy allow the noninvasive measurement of brain function and physiology, but excellent magnetic field homogeneity is required for meaningful results. The homogenization of the magnetic field distribution in the mouse brain (i.e., shimming) is a difficult task due to complex susceptibility-induced field distortions combined with the small size of the object. To date, the achievement of satisfactory whole brain shimming in the mouse remains a major challenge. The magnetic fields generated by a set of 48 circular coils (diameter 13 mm) that were arranged in a cylinder-shaped pattern of 32 mm diameter and driven with individual dynamic current ranges of ±1 A are shown to be capable of substantially reducing the field distortions encountered in the mouse brain at 9.4 Tesla. Static multicoil shim fields allowed the reduction of the standard deviation of Larmor frequencies by 31% compared to second order spherical harmonics shimming and a 66% narrowing was achieved with the slice-specific application of the multicoil shimming with a dynamic approach. For gradient echo imaging, multicoil shimming minimized shim-related signal voids in the brain periphery and allowed overall signal gains of up to 51% compared to spherical harmonics shimming.

Magnetic field homogenization of the human prefrontal cortex with a set of localized electrical coils.

The prefrontal cortex is a common target brain structure in psychiatry and neuroscience due to its role in working memory and cognitive control. Large differences in magnetic susceptibility between the air-filled sinuses and the tissue/bone in the frontal part of the human head cause a strong and highly localized magnetic field focus in the prefrontal cortex. As a result, image distortion and signal dropout are observed in MR imaging. A set of external electrical coils is presented that provides localized and high-amplitude shim fields in the prefrontal cortex, with minimum impact on the rest of the brain when combined with regular zero- to second-order spherical harmonics shimming. The experimental realization of the new shim method strongly minimized or even eliminated signal dropout in gradient-echo images acquired at settings typically used in functional magnetic resonance at 4 T.