Abstract

Motivation: Deuterium metabolic imaging (DMI) might permit mapping of cardiac metabolism by MRI. Goal(s): To port DMI tools developed at 11.7T for mice to 3T, and develop methods for cardiac DMI. Approach: Simulations, phantoms, and in vivo studies were conducted to measure SNR at 3T, develop an optimized protocol, and account for B0 inhomogeneity. Results: At 11.7T, cardiac DMI was tested in a control mouse. At 3T, phantom studies showed that multi-echo bSSFP methods yield increased SNR vs. GRE. B0-mapping helps in isolating the metabolites in phantoms. Impact: Development of DMI tools for use in cardiac DMI at clinical field strengths.