Adjustment of rotation and saturation effects (AROSE) for CEST imaging

Abstract

PurposeEndogenous CEST signal usually has low specificity due to contaminations from the magnetization transfer contrast (MTC) and other labile protons with overlapping or close Larmor frequencies. We propose to improve CEST signal specificity with adjustment of rotation and saturation effects (AROSE).MethodsThe AROSE approach measures the difference between CEST signals acquired with the same average irradiation power but largely different duty cycles, for example, a continuous wave or a high duty cycle pulse train versus a low duty cycle pulse train with a flip angle φ. Simulation, phantom, and in vivo rodent studies were performed to evaluate the characteristics of the AROSEφ signal.ResultsSimulation and experimental results show that AROSE2π is a low‐pass filter that can suppress fast exchanging processes (e.g., >3000 s−1), whereas AROSEπ is a band‐pass filter suppressing both fast and slow exchange (e.g., <30 s−1) rates. For other φ angles, the sensitivity and the exchange‐rate filtering effect of AROSEφ falls between AROSEπ and AROSE2π. AROSE can also minimize MTC and improve the Larmor frequency selectivity of the CEST signal. The linewidth of the AROSE1.5π spectrum is about 60% to 65% when compared to the CEST spectrum measured by continuous wave. Depending on the needs of an application, the sensitivity, exchange‐rate filtering, and Larmor frequency selectivity can be adjusted by varying the flip angle, duty cycle, and average irradiation power.ConclusionCompared to conventional CEST signals, AROSE can minimize MTC and improve exchange rate filtering and Larmor frequency specificity.