GlucoCEST imaging with on-resonance variable delay multiple pulse (onVDMP) MRI.

Purpose: To examine the detection sensitivity for the rapidly exchanging hydroxyl protons of D-glucose using the recently developed on-resonance variable delay multipulse (onVDMP) chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) technique. Methods: The onVDMP method was applied for the detection of water signal changes upon venous D-glucose infusion in mice with 9L glioma xenografts. The effect size of onVDMP MRI during infusion was compared with that of conventional continuous wave (CW) CEST MRI. Results: Both methods highlighted the tumor and the blood vessels on D-glucose infusion. In interleaved studies, the mean signal changes detected by onVDMP were found to be 1.8 times higher than those by CW-CEST, attributed to its high labeling efficiency for fast exchanging protons and the labeling of the OH protons over a larger frequency range. Conclusions: The onVDMP method is a more sensitive technique for the detection of exogenous CEST agents with fast-exchanging protons compared to CW-CEST MRI.