Chemical exchange saturation transfer MRI using intermolecular double-quantum coherences with multiple refocusing pulses

Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) provides a new type of image contrast in MRI. Due to the intrinsically low CEST effect, new and improved experimental techniques are required to achieve reliable and quantitative CEST images. In the present work, we proposed a novel and more sensitive CEST acquisition approach, based on the intermolecular double-quantum coherence with a module of multiple refocusing pulses (iDQC-MRP). Experiments were performed on creatine and egg white phantoms using a Varian 7 T animal MRI scanner. The iDQC-MRP CEST technique showed a substantial enhancement in CEST and nuclear Overhauser enhancement (NOE) signal intensities, compared to the standard single-quantum coherence approach. In addition, the iDQC-MRP approach increased the signal-to-noise ratio of acquired saturation images, compared to the conventional iDQC approach. The new iDQC-MRP CEST sequence provides a promising way for exploiting in vivo CEST and NOE imaging applications.