Rapid MR spectroscopic imaging of lactate using compressed sensing

Imaging lactate metabolism in vivo may improve cancer targeting and therapeutics due to its key role in the development, maintenance, and metastasis of cancer. The long acquisition times associated with magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI), which is a useful technique for assessing metabolic concentrations, are a deterrent to its routine clinical use. The objective of this study was to combine spectral editing and prospective compressed sensing (CS) acquisitions to enable precise and high-speed imaging of the lactate resonance. A MRSI pulse sequence with two key modifications was developed: (1) spectral editing components for selective detection of lactate, and (2) a variable density sampling mask for pseudo-random under-sampling of the k-space 'on the fly'. The developed sequence was tested on phantoms and in vivo in rodent models of cancer. Datasets corresponding to the 1X (fully-sampled), 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X, and 10X accelerations were acquired. The under-sampled datasets were reconstructed using a custom-built algorithm in Matlab^TM, and the fidelity of the CS reconstructions was assessed in terms of the peak amplitudes, SNR, and total acquisition time. The accelerated reconstructions demonstrate a reduction in the scan time by up to 90% in vitro and up to 80% in vivo, with negligible loss of information when compared with the fully-sampled dataset. The proposed unique combination of spectral editing and CS facilitated rapid mapping of the spatial distribution of lactate at high temporal resolution. This technique could potentially be translated to the clinic for the routine assessment of lactate changes in solid tumors.