Figure 6.

Hyperpolarized [1-¹³C]pyruvate MRI is translatable to concurrent studies of metabolism and perfusion in healthy humans. After injection of hyperpolarized pyruvate, pyruvate and lactate images were acquired every 3 seconds. A representative slice (first seven time points) is shown with time curves (normalized to maximal pyruvate signal) from all volunteers (a). From these, we modeled pyruvate-to-lactate exchange (k_PL, b). Further, we estimated perfusion (c) through relative cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and mean transit time (MTT). Both showed good correlation to arterial spin labeling MRI (ASL). Data are shown as individual observations (n = 4) with mean ± SD. Correlation was assessed with repeated-measures analysis.