Simultaneous dual-nuclei imaging for motion corrected detection and quantification of 19 F imaging agents

Fluorine MRI offers broad potential for specific detection and quantification of molecularly targeted agents in diagnosis and therapy planning or monitoring. Because non-proton MRI applications lack morphological information, accompanying proton images are needed to elucidate the spatial tissue context. Furthermore, low concentrations typical of targeted molecular imaging agents require long examinations for signal averaging during which physiological motion may lead to blurring, underestimation in signal quantification, and erroneous localization of the agent distribution. Novel methods for truly simultaneous acquisition of dual-nuclei MR data are presented that offer efficient and precise anatomical localization of fluorine signals using accurate motion correction based on contemporaneous proton signals. The feasibility of simultaneous dual-nuclei MRI motion correction and corresponding dual-resolution reconstruction, providing nuclei-specific spatial resolution to retrospectively optimize the balance between signal-to-noise ratio and resolution, is shown on a clinical 3 T MR system.