Abstract #3246

Boada F, Jones S, Kharlamov A, Yushmanov V

To monitor K+ by 87Rb MRI in vivo, we developed a protocol of dietary RbCl administration, verified that it does not interfere with ischemic brain K+ dynamics, and performed 87Rb and 23Na MRI in phantoms and animals at 3T using a Twisted Projection Imaging scheme and a PCOS coil. Brain [Rb+] safely increased up to 25 mEq/l with feeding duration. Rb+ did not significantly change the characteristic stepwise pattern of [K+] decrease in ischemic cortex with a sharp drop at 4 h. Preliminary MRI experiments prove the practicability of 87Rb MRI of the rat brain with a PCOS coil.