Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Dopamine Using Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer

• Project/Area Number: 18H03515
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 90110:Biomedical engineering-related
• Research Institution: Kyoto University
• Principal Investigator: IMAI Hirohiko 京都大学, 情報学研究科, 助教 (40506466)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2021)
• Budget Amount: ¥17,160,000 (Direct Cost: ¥13,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥3,960,000); Fiscal Year 2021: ¥3,250,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥750,000); Fiscal Year 2020: ¥3,380,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥780,000); Fiscal Year 2019: ¥6,110,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,410,000); Fiscal Year 2018: ¥4,420,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,020,000)
• Keywords: 磁気共鳴イメージング / 核磁気共鳴 / 分子イメージング / 化学交換飽和移動 / ドパミン

Outline of Final Research Achievements

CEST MRI can sense the presence of low concentration of molecules with enhanced sensitivity and high spatial resolution. The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using the CEST MRI to image dopamine, a neurotransmitter that plays an important role in the central nervous system. As a result, we have demonstrated that the dopamine is detectable and can be imaged by CEST MRI. We further investigated the various basic properties of CEST MRI of dopamine and developed a method for quantification of dopamine.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

脳内のドパミン量とパーキンソン病や統合失調症との関連が知られているが、現在のところ脳内のドパミンを直接イメージングする技術は存在しない。本研究の成果であるドパミンイメージングの手法を進展させることにより、ドパミン神経系と生体機能との関連に関する詳細な理解や、ドパミン関連疾患の発症機序の解明や新規治療法の開発、あるいは早期診断や鑑別診断に資する技術としての利用が期待できる。

Research Products

• [Presentation] Design for the image acquisition sequence of CEST MR fingerprinting by the cost-based algorithm (2019)
  • Author(s): Kazuho Kamba, Hirohiko Imai, Tetsuya Matsuda
  • Organizer: 41th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Design for the saturation RF pulse patterns in CEST MR fingerprinting by cost-based algorithm (2019)
  • Author(s): Kazuho Kamba, Hirohiko Imai, Tetsuya Matsuda
  • Organizer: 第47回日本磁気共鳴医学会大会
• [Presentation] A proposal of the image acquisition sequence of MR fingerprinting for CEST MRI (2018)
  • Author(s): Kazuho Kamba, Hirohiko Imai, Megumi Nakao, Tetsuya Matsuda
  • Organizer: 40th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Design for the saturation RF pulse patterns in MR fingerprinting for CEST MRI (2018)
  • Author(s): Kazuho Kamba, Hirohiko Imai, Megumi Nakao, Tetsuya Matsuda
  • Organizer: 第46回日本磁気共鳴医学会大会