Sodium MR imaging of kidney and other abdominal organs using a dual-tuned body RF coil at 7T

[Introduction] In vivo sodium MR imaging is promising because it is capable of providing physiologic and metabolic tissue information beyond conventional proton MR imaging. Unfortunately, the image quality of sodium MR imaging is poor when compared with proton imaging because of the low SNR due to the inherent low biological sodium content and low MR sensitivity. The low SNR problem may be alleviated with the use of a high-field MR scanner and high-sensitive surface coil. Physiologic imaging of abdominal organs, particularly the kidney, may provide additional insight into clinical applications. In this study, we demonstrated sodium MR imaging of abdominal organs using a 7T MR scanner and a multi-channel dual-tuned Na and H proton transmit (Tx)/receive (Rx) coil, and assessed the distribution of sodium signal within the kidney.