Quantitative chemical exchange saturation transfer (qCEST) MRI - omega plot analysis of RF-spillover-corrected inverse CEST ratio asymmetry for simultaneous determination of labile proton ratio and exchange rate.

Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) MRI is sensitive to labile proton concentration and exchange rate, thus allowing measurement of dilute CEST agent and microenvironmental properties. However, CEST measurement depends not only on the CEST agent properties but also on the experimental conditions. Quantitative CEST (qCEST) analysis has been proposed to address the limitation of the commonly used simplistic CEST-weighted calculation. Recent research has shown that the concomitant direct RF saturation (spillover) effect can be corrected using an inverse CEST ratio calculation. We postulated that a simplified qCEST analysis is feasible with omega plot analysis of the inverse CEST asymmetry calculation. Specifically, simulations showed that the numerically derived labile proton ratio and exchange rate were in good agreement with input values. In addition, the qCEST analysis was confirmed experimentally in a phantom with concurrent variation in CEST agent concentration and pH. Also, we demonstrated that the derived labile proton ratio increased linearly with creatine concentration (P < 0.01) while the pH-dependent exchange rate followed a dominantly base-catalyzed exchange relationship (P < 0.01). In summary, our study verified that a simplified qCEST analysis can simultaneously determine labile proton ratio and exchange rate in a relatively complex in vitro CEST system.