Confirming the existence of five peaks in129Xe rat head spectra

A series of experiments were performed to investigate why two peaks (D and E) of the five dissolved phase peaks in hyperpolarized 129Xe rat head spectra appeared inconsistently in previous work. Specifically, spectra were acquired under conditions of various shim states, anaesthetics, and arterial ligation. The shimming experiments showed that slice-shimming can be used to improve resolution of the dissolved phase peaks, but even so, subtle changes in the shim state that may dramatically alter the shape of peak E remain poorly understood. Also, the inability to shim gas spaces and tissue simultaneously may explain why inconsistent chemical shift values have been reported in the literature. A possible solution for this problem is suggested. The results of pre- and postligation spectra from the same animal indicated that two peaks (A and E) originate from brain. Changing the anaesthetic was found to have no effect on the number of dissolved peaks in xenon spectra. Magn Reson Med 57:791–797, 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.