Review and consensus recommendations on clinical APT-weighted imaging approaches at 3T: Application to brain tumors
Jinyuan Zhou, Moritz Zaiss, Linda Knutsson, Phillip Zhe Sun, Sung Soo Ahn, Silvio Aime, Peter Bachert, Jaishri O. Blakeley, Kejia Cai, Michael A. Chappell, Min Chen, Daniel F. Gochberg, Steffen Goerke, Hye-Young Heo, Shanshan Jiang, Tao Jin, Seong-Gi Kim, John Laterra, Daniel Paech, Mark D. Pagel, Ji Eun Park, Ravinder Reddy, Akihiko Sakata, Sabine Sartoretti-Schefer, A. Dean Sherry, Seth A. Smith, Greg J. Stanisz, Pia C. Sundgren, Osamu Togao, Moriel Vandsburger, Zhibo Wen, Yin Wu, Yi Zhang, Wenzhen Zhu, Zhongliang Zu, Peter C. M. van Zijl
Abstract
Amide proton transfer-weighted (APTw) MR imaging shows promise as a biomarker of brain tumor status. Currently used APTw MRI pulse sequences and protocols vary substantially among different institutes, and there are no agreed-on standards in the imaging community. Therefore, the results acquired from different research centers are difficult to compare, which hampers uniform clinical application and interpretation. This paper reviews current clinical APTw imaging approaches and provides a rationale for optimized APTw brain tumor imaging at 3 T, including specific recommendations for pulse sequences, acquisition protocols, and data processing methods. We expect that these consensus recommendations will become the first broadly accepted guidelines for APTw imaging of brain tumors on 3 T MRI systems from different vendors. This will allow more medical centers to use the same or comparable APTw MRI techniques for the detection, characterization, and monitoring of brain tumors, enabling multi-center trials in larger patient cohorts and, ultimately, routine clinical use.