Novel lipid-targeted echo-planar spectroscopic imaging technique for in-vivo lipid composition measurement

Motivation: Understanding lipid metabolism requires investigating lipid composition in vivo across tissues, which necessitates rapid, high-resolution chemical-shift imaging. Goal(s): To develop a novel, practical lipid composition imaging technique that provides full coverage of the upper abdominal volume. Approach: We introduced a Csar-EPSI sequence with adiabatic pulses to selectively refocus lipids and effectively suppress water, enhancing scan efficiency, reducing chemical-shift displacement errors, and allowing flexible voxel selection for consistent lipid assessments. Results: Csar-EPSI demonstrated high time efficiency, improved reliability, and precise differentiation of lipid profiles between obese and healthy control mice, providing a robust foundation for future applications in high-field human abdominal MRI. Impact: Csar-EPSI enables rapid and precise assessment of lipid composition in vivo. Its enhanced sensitivity and reliability provide critical insights into metabolic disorders, paving the way for improved diagnostics and personalized treatments in high-field human abdominal MRI applications.