Deuterium Metabolic Imaging (DMI) for 3D Mapping of Glucose Metabolism in Humans with Central Nervous System Lesions at 3T

DMI is an emerging modality for investigating glucose metabolism in vivo with application for assessing the Warburg effect in tumors. Although high-field systems, e.g. 7T, provide maximal signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), implementation on widely available 3T scanners could have immediate clinical impact. Here we explore the potential of 3T DMI using a birdcage 2H RF coil in two healthy volunteers and three patients with CNS lesions of varying pathology. Results from these experiments demonstrate the potential to examine the Warburg effect in CNS lesions with DMI at 3T and provide critical data needed to explore DMI SNR and spatial resolution limits.