Whole-cerebrum guanidino and amide CEST mapping at 3 T by a 3D stack-of-spirals gradient echo acquisition

Purpose: To develop a 3D, high-sensitivity CEST mapping technique based on the 3D stack-of-spirals (SOS) gradient echo readout, the proposed approach was compared with conventional acquisition techniques and evaluated for its efficacy in concurrently mapping of guanidino (Guan) and amide CEST in human brain at 3 T, leveraging the polynomial Lorentzian line-shape fitting (PLOF) method. Methods: Saturation time and recovery delay were optimized to achieve maximum CEST time efficiency. The 3DSOS method was compared with segmented 3D EPI (3DEPI), turbo spin echo, and gradient- and spin-echo techniques. Image quality, temporal SNR (tSNR), and test–retest reliability were assessed. Maps of Guan and amide CEST derived from 3DSOS were demonstrated on a low-grade glioma patient. Results: The optimized recovery delay/saturation time was determined to be 1.4/2 s for Guan and amide CEST. In addition to nearly doubling the slice number, the gradient echo techniques also outperformed spin echo sequences in tSNR: 3DEPI (193.8 ± 6.6), 3DSOS (173.9 ± 5.6), and GRASE (141.0 ± 2.7). 3DSOS, compared with 3DEPI, demonstrated comparable GuanCEST signal in gray matter (GM) (3DSOS: [2.14%–2.59%] vs. 3DEPI: [2.15%–2.61%]), and white matter (WM) (3DSOS: [1.49%–2.11%] vs. 3DEPI: [1.64%–2.09%]). 3DSOS also achieves significantly higher amideCEST in both GM (3DSOS: [2.29%–3.00%] vs. 3DEPI: [2.06%–2.92%]) and WM (3DSOS: [2.23%–2.66%] vs. 3DEPI: [1.95%–2.57%]). 3DSOS outperforms 3DEPI in terms of scan–rescan reliability (correlation coefficient: 3DSOS: 0.58–0.96 vs. 3DEPI: −0.02 to 0.75) and robustness to motion as well. Conclusion: The 3DSOS CEST technique shows promise for whole-cerebrum CEST imaging, offering uniform contrast and robustness against motion artifacts.