Why the study?
Does intermolecular zero-quantum MRI (BATSCI) accurately detect and map brown adipose tissue in vivo compared to conventional methods?
Does intermolecular zero-quantum MRI (BATSCI) accurately detect and map brown adipose tissue in vivo compared to conventional methods?
Intermolecular zero-quantum MRI provides a novel, non-invasive method to selectively detect and map brown adipose tissue in vivo without special hardware modifications.
BATSCI advances preclinical BAT imaging; leaves open clinical translation pending prospective human validation.
The recent discovery of active Brown Adipose Tissue (BAT) in adult humans has opened new avenues for obesity research and treatment, as reduced BAT activity seem to be implicated in human energy imbalance, diabetes, and hypertension. However, clinical applications are currently limited by the lack of non-invasive tools for measuring mass and function of this tissue in humans. Here we present a new magnetic resonance imaging method based on the normally invisible intermolecular multiple-quantum coherence (1)H MR signal. This method, which doesn't require special hardware modifications, can be used to overcome partial volume effect, the major limitation of MR-based approaches that are currently being investigated for the detection of BAT in humans. With this method we can exploit the characteristic cellular structure of BAT to selectively image it, even when (as in humans) it is intimately mixed with other tissues. We demonstrate and validate this method in mice using PET scans and histology. We compare this methodology with conventional (1)H MR fat fraction methods. Finally, we investigate its feasibility for the detection of BAT in humans.
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Branca et al. (2013) studied this question.
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