Indirect ¹H–[¹³C] MRS of the human brain at 7 T using a ¹³C‐birdcage coil and eight transmit–receive ¹H‐dipole antennas with a 32‐channel ¹H‐receive array

Abstract

The neuronal tricarboxylic acid and glutamate/glutamine (Glu/Gln) cycles play important roles in brain function. These processes can be measured in vivo using dynamic 1H–[13C] MRS during administration of 13C‐labeled glucose. Proton‐observed carbon‐edited (POCE) MRS enhances the signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) compared with direct 13C‐MRS. Ultra‐high field further boosts the SNR and increases spectral dispersion; however, even at 7 T, Glu and Gln 1H‐resonances may overlap. Further gain can be obtained with selective POCE (selPOCE). Our aim was to create a setup for indirect dynamic 1H–[13C] MRS in the human brain at 7 T. A home‐built non‐shielded transmit–receive 13C‐birdcage head coil with eight transmit–receive 1H‐dipole antennas was used together with a 32‐channel 1H‐receive array. Electromagnetic simulations were carried out to ensure that acquisitions remained within local and global head SAR limits. POCE‐MRS was performed using slice‐selective excitation with semi‐localization by adiabatic selective refocusing (sLASER) and stimulated echo acquisition mode (STEAM) localization, and selPOCE‐MRS using STEAM. Sequences were tested in a phantom containing non‐enriched Glu and Gln, and in three healthy volunteers during uniformly labeled 13C‐glucose infusions. In one subject the voxel position was alternated between bi‐frontal and bi‐occipital placement within one session. [4‐13C]Glu‐H4 and [4‐13C]Gln‐H4 signals could be separately detected using both STEAM‐POCE and STEAM‐selPOCE in the phantom. In vivo, [4,5‐13C]Glx could be detected using both sLASER‐POCE and STEAM‐POCE, with similar sensitivities, but [4,5‐13C]Glu and [4,5‐13C]Gln signals could not be completely resolved. STEAM‐POCE was alternately performed bi‐frontal and bi‐occipital within a single session without repositioning of the subject, yielding similar results. With STEAM‐selPOCE, [4,5‐13C]Glu and [4,5‐13C]Gln could be clearly separated. We have shown that with our setup indirect dynamic 1H–[13C] MRS at 7 T is feasible in different locations in the brain within one session, and by using STEAM‐selPOCE it is possible to separate Glu from Gln in vivo while obtaining high quality spectra.