Probe-Specific Procedure to Estimate Sensitivity and Detection Limits for 19F Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Due to low fluorine background signal in vivo, 19F is a good marker to study the fate of exogenous molecules by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using equilibrium nuclear spin polarization schemes. Since 19F MRI applications require high sensitivity, it can be important to assess experimental feasib...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2016-10, Vol.11 (10), p.e0163704-e0163704
Main Authors: Taylor, Alexander J, Granwehr, Josef, Lesbats, Clémentine, Krupa, James L, Six, Joseph S, Pavlovskaya, Galina E, Thomas, Neil R, Auer, Dorothee P, Meersmann, Thomas, Faas, Henryk M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analytical methods
Calibration
Coils
Configurations
Detection limits
Engineering and Technology
Experiments
Feasibility studies
Fluorine
Fluorine Radioisotopes - chemistry
Gadolinium - chemistry
Hardware
In vivo methods and tests
Inflammation
Limit of Detection
Magnetic permeability
Magnetic resonance
Magnetic resonance imaging
Magnetic Resonance Imaging - standards
Magnetic resonance spectroscopy
Mansfield, Peter
Mathematical analysis
Mathematical models
Medicine
Medicine and Health Sciences
Models, Theoretical
NMR
Noise
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Nuclear spin
Perfluorocarbons
Physical Sciences
Polarization (spin alignment)
Research and Analysis Methods
Resonance
Sensitivity
Sensitivity analysis
Signal-To-Noise Ratio
Spectroscopy
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Summary:Due to low fluorine background signal in vivo, 19F is a good marker to study the fate of exogenous molecules by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using equilibrium nuclear spin polarization schemes. Since 19F MRI applications require high sensitivity, it can be important to assess experimental feasibility during the design stage already by estimating the minimum detectable fluorine concentration. Here we propose a simple method for the calibration of MRI hardware, providing sensitivity estimates for a given scanner and coil configuration. An experimental "calibration factor" to account for variations in coil configuration and hardware set-up is specified. Once it has been determined in a calibration experiment, the sensitivity of an experiment or, alternatively, the minimum number of required spins or the minimum marker concentration can be estimated without the need for a pilot experiment. The definition of this calibration factor is derived based on standard equations for the sensitivity in magnetic resonance, yet the method is not restricted by the limited validity of these equations, since additional instrument-dependent factors are implicitly included during calibration. The method is demonstrated using MR spectroscopy and imaging experiments with different 19F samples, both paramagnetically and susceptibility broadened, to approximate a range of realistic environments.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0163704