Kevin Kai-Chi Leung1,2, Albert Pofu Chen3,
Wilfred W. Lam1, Angus Zoen Lau1,2, Charles H.
Cunningham1,2
1Imaging Research, Sunnybrook Health
Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; 2Medical Biophysics,
University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; 3GE Healthcare,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
This
abstract describes the use of spectral-spatial RF pulses and rapid flyback
echo planar encoding techniques to acquire 13C images of pyruvate and lactate
at high spatial and temporal resolution, upon the injection of hyperpolarized
[1-13C]pyruvate into in vitro lactate dehydrogenase enzyme mixture and in
vivo rat model. The comparable pyruvate-to-lactate conversion time course and
fit to a two-pool kinetic model obtained with dynamic imaging and MR
spectroscopy demonstrate the feasibility of mapping first order enzymatic
conversion rates in heterogeneous tumors and tissue types non-invasively with
hyperpolarized 13C MR imaging.