Abstract #3280

A Bayesian Approach to Modeling the Delivery of a Hyperpolarized Substrate

Matthew E. Merritt^1,2, Crystal Harrison³, A Dean Sherry^4,5, Craig R. Malloy^4,6, G Larry Bretthorst⁷

¹Advance Imaging Research Center, UT Southwestern Med. Center, Dallas, TX, United States; ²Radiology, UTSW Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States; ³Physics, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, United States; ⁴AIRC, UTSW Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States; ⁵Chemistry, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, United States; ⁶Cardiology, North Texas VA Hospital, Dallas, TX, United States; ⁷Radiology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, United Kingdom

A primary challenge to extracting quantitative metabolic fluxes from metabolism of a hyperpolarized substrate is modeling the delivery of the molecular imaging agent itself. Here, a tracer is co-infused with [1-¹³C] pyruvate. A model of the delivery and decay of the magnetization is analyzed with a Bayesian approach, yielding a delivery rate with the standard deviation. Such models are a necessary precursor to correct modeling of fluxes in vivo.