PET AND NMR DUAL ACQUISITION (PANDA) - APPLICATIONS TO ISOLATED, PERFUSED RAT HEARTS

Positron emission tomography and nuclear magnetic resonance spectrosco py are non-invasive techniques that allow serial metabolic measurement s to be obtained in a single subject, Significant advantages could be obtained if both types of scans could be acquired with a single machin e, A small-scale PET scanner, designed to operate in a high magnetic f ield, was therefore constructed and inserted into the top half of a 7. 3 cm bore, 9.4 T NMR magnet and its performance characterized. The mag netic field did not significantly affect either the sensitivity (simil ar to 3 kcps/MBq) or the spatial resolution (2.0 mm full width at half maximum, measured using a 0.25 mm diameter line source) of the scanne r, However, the presence of the PET scanner resulted in a small decrea se in field homogeneity, The first, simultaneous P-31 NMR spectra (200 , 80 degrees pulses collected at 6 s intervals) and PET images (transv erse, mid-ventricular slices at the level of the mitral value) from is olated, perfused rat hearts were acquired using a specially designed N R IR probe inserted into the bottom half of the magnet, The PET images were of excellent quality, enabling the left ventricular wall and int erventricular septum to be clearly seen. In conclusion, we have demons trated the simultaneous acquisition of PET and NMR data from perfused rat hearts; we believe that the combination of these two powerful tech niques has tremendous potential in both the laboratory and the clinic, (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.