Relative to other medical imaging modalities, electron paramagnetic resonance imaging (EPRI) is uniquely able to quantitatively image physiological properties including pH1-3, pO24-7, temperature8, perfusion and viability of tissues9, microviscosity and ease of diffusion of small molecules10 and oxidative stress11. Estimation of the ease of disulfide cleavage by glutathione (GSH) in tissue and cells12,13 can report on redox status. For in vivo imaging, EPR in the frequency range between 250 MHz and 1 GHz is chosen because these frequencies provide sufficient depth of tissue penetration (up to several cm) to generate images for small animals in which intensities are not diminished by dielectric loss effects. Higher frequencies, such as 9.5 GHz14 (X-band) and 17 GHz (Ku-band)15,16 can be used for imaging of skin and hair or single cells, respectively. The success of EPRI at all frequencies depends on paramagnetic spin probes that are specific for tissues so that their location and fate may be imaged.
If the environment of an electron spin probe is spatially heterogeneous, the EPR spectrum is the sum of contributions from all locations. Spectral-spatial imaging divides the sample's volume into an array of small spatial segments and calculates the EPR spectrum for each of these segments17. This allows mapping of the local environment by measuring the spatial variation in the EPR spectrum. Magnetic field gradients are used to encode spatial information into EPR spectra, which are called projections. The spectral-spatial image is reconstructed from these projections18,19.
In RS-EPR the magnetic field is scanned through resonance in a time that is short relative to electron spin relaxation times (Figure 2)20,21. Deconvolution of the rapid-scan signal gives the absorption spectrum, which is equivalent to the first integral of the conventional first-derivative CW spectrum. The rapid-scan signal is detected in quadrature, so that both absorption and dispersion components of the spin system response are measured. This is essentially collecting twice the amount of data per unit time. Saturation of the signal in a rapid scan experiment happens at higher powers than for CW, so higher powers can be used without concern for saturation.20,22 Many more averages can be done per unit time in comparison to CW. Higher power, direct quadrature detection and more averages per unit time combine to give rapid scan a better signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), especially at high gradient projections that define spatial separation, leading to higher quality images. To achieve about the same SNR for an image of a phantom required about 10 times as long for CW as for rapid scan23.
The increased SNR also allows experiments at 250 MHz with low concentration spin trap adducts formed by the reaction of OH with 5-tert-butoxycarbonyl-5-methyl-1-pyrroline-N-oxide (BMPO-OH) which would be invisible to the CW method24. Dinitroxides connected with a disulfide linker are sensitive to cleavage by glutathione, and so can report on cellular redox status. Equilibrium exists, dependent on the concentration of glutathione present, between the di- and mono-radical forms. Observing these changes requires capture of the entire 5 mT wide spectrum, and can be achieved much faster with rapid scan EPR compared to stepping the magnetic field in a CW experiment.
A complete rapid scan system consists of four parts: the spectrometer, the main field magnet, the rapid scan coil driver, and the rapid scan cross-loop resonator. The spectrometer and the main field magnet function the same as in a CW experiment, setting the main Zeeman field and collecting the data from the resonator. The rapid scan coil driver generates the sinusoidal scan current that goes into specially designed rapid scan coils on the rapid scan cross-loop resonator. The rapid scan coils on the rapid scan cross-loop resonator generate a large homogeneous magnetic field, which is swept at frequencies between 3 and 15 kHz.