Fast metabolite mapping in the pig heart after injection of hyperpolarized 13C-pyruvate with low-flip angle balanced steady-state free precession imaging.

The conversion of hyperpolarized (13)C pyruvate to metabolic products in the Krebs cycle provides valuable information about the metabolic status and the viability of the myocardium. Therefore, imaging methods must be able to spectrally discriminate different (13)C metabolites. However, the requirement for spectral selectivity conflicts with the demands for rapid image acquisition and high spatial resolution in cardiac imaging. In this work, the feasibility of a balanced steady state free precession sequence with low flip angles was investigated in the pig heart after injection of hyperpolarized (13)C(1)-pyruvate. Using cardiac gating, it was possible to acquire (13)C-bicarbonate images within a single heartbeat (acquisition time 150 ms) without destroying the substrate signal from the hyperpolarized pyruvate. Therefore, the technique may be useful in dynamic studies of cardiac metabolism.