Tracking metabolite dynamics in plants via indirect 13C chemical shift imaging with an interleaved variable density acquisition weighted sampling pattern.

OBJECTIVE

Developing and evaluating an improved sampling pattern to track the dynamics of labeled substances in plants using indirect (13)C chemical shift imaging.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

An algorithm to split an acquisition weighted sampling pattern into several undersampled sub-images is presented. The sampling patterns are used in CSI moving phantom experiments as well as in in vivo POCE-CSI experiments on barley stem and grain. Reconstruction is performed traditionally or by compressed sensing.

RESULTS

The moving phantom experiments show that the sampling pattern can reduce motion artifacts at the cost of an increased overall noise. The in vivo experiments demonstrate the feasibility of extracting a time series from a single imaging experiment.

CONCLUSION

The sampling pattern is suitable for tracking the uptake of label substances into plant material. The use of compressed sensing allows an increased spatial and temporal resolution.