OXSA: An open-source magnetic resonance spectroscopy analysis toolbox in MATLAB

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Medical Imaging
• Metabolomics

Background:

• In vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is crucial for understanding human metabolism.
• Advancements in MRS acquisition protocols necessitate optimized data processing.
• Existing fitting software often lacks flexibility for novel protocols.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce the OXford Spectroscopy Analysis (OXSA) toolbox, a MATLAB-based software for developing customized MRS processing pipelines.
• To provide researchers with a flexible and user-friendly tool for analyzing MRS data.
• To facilitate rapid development and implementation of new MRS data processing strategies.

Main Methods:

• Development of a MATLAB-based toolbox (OXSA) for MRS data analysis.
• Implementation of features for easy installation, DICOM data import, and data visualization.
• Inclusion of a robust fitting routine with flexible prior knowledge specification and batch processing capabilities.
• Demonstration of the toolbox's functionality and technical implementation details.

Main Results:

• The OXSA toolbox offers a simplified approach to developing customized MRS processing pipelines.
• It seamlessly imports Siemens DICOM data and allows for data visualization.
• The toolbox provides a robust fitting routine and supports batch processing of spectra.
• The code is freely available, promoting wider adoption and development.

Conclusions:

• The OXSA toolbox empowers researchers to create tailored processing pipelines for in vivo MRS data.
• It addresses the limitations of current software by offering flexibility and ease of use.
• This tool can accelerate research in human metabolism and other MRS applications.
• The open-source nature of OXSA encourages collaborative development and innovation in the field.