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A double-tuned ²³Na/¹H resonator system was developed to record multinuclear MR image data during and after transient cerebral ischemia. ¹H-diffusion-, (¹H perfusion, ¹H T₂-, ¹H arterial blood flow- and ²³Na spin density-weighted images were then acquired at three time points in a rodent stroke model: (I) during 90 min artery occlusion, (II) directly after arterial reperfusion and (III) one day after arterial reperfusion. Normal ²³Na was detected in hypoperfused stroke tissue which exhibited a low ¹H apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and no changes in ¹H T₂ relaxation time during transient ischemia, while ²³Na increased and ADC values recovered to normal values directly after arterial reperfusion. For the first time, a similar imaging protocol was set-up on a clinical 3T MRI site in conjunction with a commercial double-tuned ¹H/²³Na birdcage resonator avoiding a time-consuming exchange of resonators or MRI systems. Multinuclear ²³Na/¹H MRI data sets were obtained from one stroke patient during both the acute and non-acute stroke phases with an aquisition time of 22 min. The lesion exhibiting low ADC was found to be larger compared to the lesion with high ²³Na at 9 h after symptom onset. It is hoped that the presented pilot data demonstrate that fast multinuclear ²³Na/¹H MRI preclinical and clinical protocols can enable a better understanding of how temporal and regional MRI parameter changes link to pathophysiological variations in ischemic stroke tissue.

A method for quantifying the tissue sodium concentration (TSC) in the rat brain from ²³Na-MR images was developed. TSC is known to change in a variety of common human diseases and holds considerable potential to contribute to their study; however, its accurate measurement in small laboratory animals has been hindered by the extremely low signal to noise ratio (SNR) in ²³Na images. To address this, the design, construction and characterization of a double-tuned ¹H/²³Na dual resonator system for ¹H-guided quantitative ²³Na-MRI are described. This system comprises an SNR-optimized surface detector coil for ²³Na image acquisition, and a volume resonator producing a highly homogeneous B₁ field (<5% inhomogeneity) for the Na channel across the rat head. The resonators incorporated channel-independent balanced matching and tuning capabilities with active decoupling circuitry at the ²³Na resonance frequency. A quantification accuracy of TSC of <10 mM was achieved in Na-images with 1.2 µl voxel resolution acquired in 10 min. The potential of the quantification technique was demonstrated in an in vivo experiment of a rat model of cerebral stroke, where the evolution of the TSC was successfully monitored for 8 h after the stroke was induced.