Magnetization Transfer Contrast and Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer MRI. Features and analysis of the field-dependent saturation spectrum

The use of higher B0 can bring several advantages. In addition to higher detection sensitivity (signal-to-noise ratio, SNR), both MTC and CEST studies benefit from longer water T1 allowing the saturation transferred to water to be retained longer. While MTC studies are non-specific at any field strength, CEST specificity is expected to increase at higher field because of a larger chemical shift dispersion of the resonances of interest (similar to MRS). In addition, shifting to a slower exchange regime at higher B0 facilitates improved detection of the guanidinium protons of creatine and the inherently broad resonances of the amine protons in glutamate and the hydroxyl protons in myoinositol, glycogen, and glucosaminoglycans. Finally, due to the higher mobility of the contributing protons in CEST versus MTC, many new pulse sequences can be designed to more specifically edit for CEST signals and to remove MTC contributions.