Peder E. Z. Larson1, Ralph Hurd2,
Adam B. Kerr3, Robert Bok1, John Kurhanewicz1,
Daniel B. Vigneron1
1Radiology and Biomedical Imaging,
University of California - San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States; 2Applied
Science Laboratory, GE Healthcare, Menlo Park, CA, United States; 3Electrical
Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States
Stimulated-echoes
can be used to provide high sensitivity to diffusion and flow, providing
unique contrast. We have developed and
applied stimulated-echo pulse sequences for hyperpolarized 13C metabolic imaging,
studying both normal animals and the TRAMP prostate cancer mouse model to
better distinguish the local metabolite environment. These experiments demonstrated a dramatic
increase in CNR for tumors and present a new parameter for characterizing the
metabolic state.