Conclusion
In this study, we demonstrate that CEST fingerprinting is more efficient (5 times faster) compared with pulsed quantitative CEST. It is also shown that the results of the proposed CEST fingerprinting technique are much closer to the literature values than pulsed quantitative CEST at 3 T.
Methods
The proposed CEST fingerprinting method used varying saturation powers and saturation times to create unique signal evolutions for different exchange rates. The acquired signal was matched to a predefined dictionary to determine the exchange rate. The magnetization transfer effects were also addressed in the framework of CEST fingerprinting: The simulated dictionary could predict the signal curves without magnetization transfer effects, and comparing the dictionary to the acquired signals allowed the correction of the magnetization transfer effects. The CEST fingerprinting method was compared with the conventional pulsed quantitative CEST method using omega plots in the creatine phantom study.
Purpose
There is an increased interest to determine the exchange rate using CEST to provide pH information. However, current CEST quantification
Results
The CEST fingerprinting method has a significantly reduced scan time (10 minutes versus 50 minutes) while providing more accurate exchange rate quantification using literature values as the reference.