Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 25, 2026
Application of Granger Causality Analysis of the Directed Functional Connection in Alzheimer's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment
Published on: August 7, 2017
Comparison of LCModel and SAGE in Analysis of Brain Metabolite Concentrations-A study of Patients with Mild Cognitive
Chiu-Ming Shih1, Jui-Jen Lai1, Chin-Ching Chang1
1Department of Medical Imaging Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Purpose:
The purpose of this study was to compare brain metabolite concentration ratios determined by LCModel and Spectroscopy Analysis by General Electric (SAGE) quantitative methods to elucidate the advantages and disadvantages of each method.
Materials And Methods:
A total of 10 healthy volunteers and 10 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) were recruited in this study. A point-resolved spectroscopy (PRESS) sequence was used to obtain the brain magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) spectra of the volunteers and patients, as well as the General Electric (GE) MRS-HD-sphere phantom. The brain metabolite concentration ratios were estimated based on the peak area obtained from both LCModel and SAGE software. Three brain regions were sampled for each volunteer or patient, and 20 replicates were acquired at different times for the phantom analysis.
Results:
The metabolite ratios of the GE phantom were estimated to be myo-inositol (mI)/creatine (Cr): 0.70 ± 0.01, choline (Cho)/Cr: 0.37 ± 0.00, N-acetylaspartate (NAA)/Cr: 1.26 ± 0.02, and NAA/mI: 1.81 ± 0.04 by LCModel, and mI/Cr: 0.88 ± 0.15, Cho/Cr: 0.35 ± 0.01, NAA/Cr: 1.33 ± 0.03, and NAA/mI: 1.55 ± 0.26 by SAGE. In the healthy volunteers and MCI patients, the ratios of mI/Cr and Cho/Cr estimated by LCModel were higher than those estimated by SAGE. In contrast, the ratio of NAA/Cr estimated by LCModel was lower than that estimated by SAGE.
Conclusion:
Both methods were acceptable in estimating brain metabolite concentration ratios. However, LCModel was marginally more accurate than SAGE because of its full automation, basis set, and user independency.
