Quantitative brain proton MR spectroscopy based on measurement of the relaxation time T1 of water

✍ Scribed by Gábor Bajzik; Tibor Auer; Péter Bogner; Miklós Aradi; Gyula Kotek; Imre Repa; Tamas Doczi; Attila Schwarcz

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 189 KB
• Volume: 28
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1053-1807
• DOI: 10.1002/jmri.21192

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Purpose

To provide a straightforward method for metabolite quantitation in the brain. Tissue water concentration can be determined in a voxel by measuring T~1~ and it may provide an internal reference for the calculation of the metabolite concentrations.

Materials and Methods

Water‐suppressed stimulated echo acquisition mode spectra were obtained at 1.5T, and the tissue water content was calculated from T~1~.

Results

The calculated water content values demonstrated very good agreement with literature data. Metabolite concentrations (mmol/liter) in the gray and white matter: N‐acetyl‐aspartate = 14.02 ± 1.93, creatine = 9.98 ± 1.03, and choline = 1.14 ± 0.24; N‐acetyl‐aspartate = 11.08 ± 2.24, creatine = 7.83 ± 0.66, and choline = 2.05 ± 0.38, respectively.

Conclusion

The water content calculated from T~1~ can yield an internal reference in MR spectroscopy, and the accurate measurement of metabolite concentrations is feasible. The proposed method is simple and can readily be applied in any MR center without the need for complicated corrections or calibration procedures. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2008;28:34–38. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.