Chemical exchange saturation transfer and its application progress in human brain imaging / 国际生物医学工程杂志

ABSTRACT

Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) is a novel MRI technology developed in recent years. In CEST, the exchangeable hydrogen protons were saturated using a selective RF pulse, and then transferred into free water by chemical exchange. This process leads to a reduction of free pool signal, which can be used to infer the solute pool information and environmental information around the solute. In recent years, CEST technology has developed rapidly, and various CEST contrast agents have been developed with their own characteristics and applications. In this review paper, the principles, measurement of CEST signal, types of CEST agents, and the applications of several commonly used CEST contrast agents in human brain imaging researches were introduced including amide proton transfer imaging CEST (APT-CEST), glutamate CEST (gluCEST) and glucose CEST (glucoCEST).