7T 6,6’-[2H2]-glucose DMI to profile regional metabolism in Glioblastoma

Motivation: Improving glioblastoma outcomes is hindered by our limited understanding of its metabolic profile, which impedes targeted therapy development. Goal(s): This study aims to develop a robust pipeline using deuterium metabolic imaging (DMI) to investigate glioblastoma metabolism. Approach: Glioblastoma patients underwent 3T structural imaging and 7T DMI. The resulting data was segmented, co-registered, and processed for regional analysis to extract and quantify metabolite concentrations and flux. Results: The pipeline successfully extracted metabolite concentrations in tumour and contralateral control tissue, demonstrating its potential in analysing metabolic changes in glioblastoma, paving the way for further clinical study. Impact: This study establishes methods for ultra-high field deuterium metabolic imaging (7T DMI) to probe glioblastoma metabolism, enabling precise monitoring of metabolic changes. This may enable research to improve therapeutic outcomes, for example by allowing personalised treatment approaches.