In vivo 1H NMR spectroscopy of the human brain at 9.4 T: Initial results

Dinesh K Deelchand, Pierre-Francois Van de Moortele, Gregor Adriany, Isabelle Iltis, Peter M Andersen, John P Strupp, J. T Vaughan, Kâmil Uurbil, Pierre-Gilles Henry

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

96 Scopus citations

Abstract

In vivo proton NMR spectroscopy allows non-invasive detection and quantification of a wide range of biochemical compounds in the brain. Higher field strength is generally considered advantageous for spectroscopy due to increased signal-to-noise and increased spectral dispersion. So far 1H NMR spectra have been reported in the human brain up to 7 T. In this study we show that excellent quality short echo time STEAM and LASER 1H NMR spectra can be measured in the human brain at 9.4 T. The information content of the human brain spectra appears very similar to that measured in the past decade in rodent brains at the same field strength, in spite of broader linewidth in human brain. Compared to lower fields, the T 1 relaxation times of metabolites were slightly longer while T 2 relaxation values of metabolites were shorter (<100 ms) at 9.4 T. The linewidth of the total creatine (tCr) resonance at 3.03 ppm increased linearly with magnetic field (1.35 Hz/T from 1.5 T to 9.4 T), with a minimum achievable tCr linewidth of around 12.5 Hz at 9.4 T. At very high field, B 0 microsusceptibility effects are the main contributor to the minimum achievable linewidth.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)74-80
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Magnetic Resonance
Volume206
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2010

Keywords

  • Brain
  • Human
  • Proton NMR spectroscopy
  • Relaxation times
  • Ultra-high field

Center for Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR) tags

  • MRE

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