Image contrast associated with paramagnetic chemical exchange saturation transfer agents can be generated by off-resonance irradiation of agent-bound water or amide protons or on-resonance irradiation of bulk water. Previously, a four-pool model was developed to describe an in vivo system. The model incorporated the magnetization transfer effect from macromolecules when using off-resonance irradiation. In the current study, this four-pool model is modified to describe the in vivo system when using on-resonance irradiation. The influences of pulse power, pulse duration, the chemical shift of bound water, the proton exchange rate between bulk water and bound water, and agent concentration on the on-resonance paramagnetic agent chemical exchange effects were simulated using a WALTZ-16 pulse train in the absence and presence of the macromolecule pool. The results demonstrated that while contrast increases with pulse duration in aqueous solution, there is an optimal pulse duration that maximizes on-resonance paramagnetic agent chemical exchange effects contrast in vivo. Diamagnetic and paramagnetic chemical exchange saturation transfer (PARACEST) (1-12) agents have many possible medical and biologic applications, including the measurement of tissue pH based on the pH dependence of the exchange rate of amide protons with bulk water protons (13-15), the measurement of tissue temperature using the linear dependence of the bound water chemical shift on temperature (16,17), enzymatic activity (18), and metabolite levels (19-21). The CEST detection sensitivity (or CEST effect) is defined as the change in the bulk water signal intensity of the agent solution following irradiation of the exchangeable protons. The PARACEST effect and the chemical shift of bound protons can be modified using different metals in the lanthanide series or ligands (22). Currently, the most efficient PARACEST agents are europium (Eu 3ϩ ) based, with a bound water chemical shift around 45 parts per million (ppm) and visible CEST contrast from millimolar concentrations.Despite the large chemical shift of the bound water and amide protons associated with PARACEST agents, the relatively high saturation power needed for in vivo PARAC-EST imaging results in the simultaneous observation of inherent magnetization transfer (MT) from macromolecule-bound protons (17,23). Though dysprosium-, thulium (Tm 3ϩ )-, and ytterbium-based PARACEST agents have bound water chemical shifts beyond the MT effect range, the fast proton exchange between the bound water of these compounds and the bulk water results in an undetectable CEST signal within specific absorption rate power limits. However, the irradiation of bulk water (on-resonance) in solutions with fast proton exchange between bound water and bulk water may also produce contrast due to chemical exchange (24).The detected effect of a PARACEST agent based on the radiofrequency (RF) excitation of bulk water was previously described as the on-resonance paramagnetic agent chemical exchange effect (OPARACHEE) to differe...