Medical Physics Seminar – Monday, November 18, 2013
Improved Acquisition Efficiency for Hyperpolarized 13C MRI
Jeremy Gordon (student of Dr. Sean Fain)
Research Assistant, Department of Medical Physics, UW-School of Medicine & Public Health, Madison, WI - USA -
Hyperpolarized 13C substrates offer the potential to non-invasively image metabolism and enzymatic activity. However, hyperpolarization presents a number of difficulties, and imaging is hampered by non-equilibrium magnetization and the need for spectral encoding. There is therefore a need for fast and RF efficient spectral imaging techniques. In this talk, we will discuss methods to increase RF efficiency and improve modeling accuracy. Focus will be placed on a novel encoding and reconstruction technique, referred to as k-t spiral, that can generate spatially and spectrally resolved images with a single RF excitation. This method increases data acquisition efficiency, enabling accelerated acquisition speed, preserved polarization, and/or improved temporal or spatial resolution.