Evaluating the Clinical Utility and Diagnostic Value of High-Resolution Deuterium MRS Imaging (DMRSI) in Patients with Brain Tumor

Motivation: Deuterium MRS imaging (DMRSI) can detect Warburg Effect in brain tumors; however, its clinical utility and value in brain tumor diagnosis and treatment has not been investigated. Goal(s): To perform a preliminary investigation in human patients with brain tumor. Approach: High-resolution dynamic DMRSI (HR-DMRSI) study was conducted in brain tumor patients on a 7T clinical scanner with an oral D66-glucose administration; biospecimens taken from DMRSI positive and negative regions were analyzed and compared with the DMRSI and clinical MRI results. Results: HR-DMRSI technology enables detection and characterization of glioma infiltration with a level of precision surpassing traditional imaging modalities. Impact: We clearly demonstrate that 7T high-resolution dynamic deuterium (2H) MRS imaging is able to detect and characterize glioma infiltration in individual human patients with high accuracy and specificity that exceeds conventional imaging modalities available in standard clinical setting.