Cardiac protocol including 1H 3T MRI and 31P MRSI 7T with a dipole array coil

Motivation: 31­P heart applications can be used to monitor cardiac energetics, treatment response in vivo and metabolic inflexibility, a key feature of the failing heart. Goal(s): We present here a 7T and 3T protocol for 31­P heart application, including the validation of a dipole array coil design. Approach: We evaluated the performance of the coil at 7T with B1 maps and through in vivo scans of 8 healthy with a long 31P CSI protocol, and tested the 3T protocol on 5. Results: Results show spectra of excellent quality. PCr/gATP ratios lie within the expected range and B1+ maps show good uniformity. Impact: This coil design has the potential of lifting the current limitations associated with the wider use of 31­P cardiac MRSI to study the heart energetics. It can also help the diagnosis and the design of new drugs in the future.