Intermolecular Double-Quantum-Coherence Imaging

Introduction Recently we have demonstrated a new type of MRI based on detection of intermolecular zero-quantum coherences (iZQCs) both in vitro and in viva.‘,’ These coherences correspond to simultaneously flipping two water spins in opposite directions on molecules separated by 10 pm 10 mm. It is also possible to detect intermolecular double quantum coherences (iDQCs) corresponding to simultaneous flipping of two water spins in the same direction on distant molecules. The imaging of iDQCs was first demonstrated in coaxial tubes using a two-quantum CRAZED sequence,3 and recently in the cat brain.4 In this study, we show that phantom and human brain iDQC images are readily observable at 4T.