Feasibility and comparison of 3D modified rosette ultra-short echo time (PETALUTE) with conventional weighted acquisition in 31P-MRSI

Abstract

Phosphorus-31 magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (31P-MRSI) provides valuable non-invasivein vivoinformation on tissue metabolism but is burdened by poor sensitivity and prolonged scan duration. Ultra-short echo time (UTE) acquisitions minimize signal loss when probing signals with relatively short spin-spin relaxation time (T2), while also preventing first-order dephasing. Here, a three-dimensional (3D) UTE sequence with a rosette k-space trajectory (PETALUTE) is applied to 31P-MRSI at 3T. Conventional weighted MRSI employs highly regular Cartesian k-space sampling, susceptible to substantial artifacts when accelerated via undersampling. In contrast, this novel sequence's "petal-like" pattern offers incoherent sampling more suitable for compressed sensing (CS). These results showcase the competitive performance of PETALUTE against conventional weighted 31P-MRSI with simulation, phantom, and in vivo leg muscle comparisons.