Development of a Broadband Echo Planar Imaging (EPI) for Hyperpolarized C-13 Imaging on a Siemens Prisma 3T MRI Scanner
Abstract
Purpose
To develop a broadband echo planar imaging (EPI) for hyperpolarized C-13 imaging on a Siemens Prisma 3T MRI scanner for cross-vendor performance harmonization
Methods
A new graphical user interface (GUI) was implemented to control parameters that are unique for hyperpolarized (HP) C-13 imaging. A metabolite loop was added with controls for metabolite-specific excitation frequency. The GUI also included controls for metabolite-specific flip angle and the number of time frames. A drop-down menu was added to select any custom external RF and gradient waveforms. A spectral-spatial (SPSP) RF/gradient module was programed for excitation, and a symmetric bipolar EPI readout was implemented for signal acquisition. The implementation was developed in C++ on the Siemens IDEA platform and tested using H-1 phantom imaging.
Results
User inputs were successfully translated from the GUI to actual sequence execution. The metabolite loop behaved as intended for multi-slice acquisition with multiple repetitions in both simulation and phantom scans. Using a sinc RF, the spatial shift in the reconstructed image accurately matched the frequency offset as specified in the GUI. The sequence correctly loaded external waveform files and enabled the spectral-spatial excitation mode.
Conclusion
This work demonstrates a new method tailored for HP C-13 MRI studies on a Siemens Prisma 3T scanner. Expanding access to this technique may facilitate harmonizing data acquisition across MR imaging platforms. Future work will evaluate spectral-selective excitation performance of multiple C-13 metabolites (e.g., pyruvate, lactate, bicarbonate, and alanine) under multi-slice and multi-repetition conditions.