Implications of the magnetic susceptibility difference between grey and white matter for single-voxel proton...

Magnetic susceptibility differences between grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM) can potentially affect lineshapes and chemical shifts in single-voxel spectroscopy. This study aimed to investigate the consequences and potential utility of these effects. Spectroscopy voxels were segmented into GM, WM, and cerebrospinal fluid based on T₁-weighted images. GM and WM lineshapes were computed using multi-echo gradient-echo images to measure the frequency distribution. Twenty 7 Tesla single voxel spectra with corresponding T₁-weighted images were acquired from the frontal and parietal lobes from five healthy human volunteers. Consistent frequency shifts (mean [±SD] 4.9 ± 2.0 Hz) and linewidth differences (2.4 ± 1.5 Hz) between the two tissue types were observed. Directly visible metabolites (creatine, choline, and myo-inositol) exhibited frequency shifts and linewidth differences that were consistent with a linear-weighted summation of their expected GM and WM distribution ratios. The magnetic susceptibility difference between GM and WM had a detectable effect on single-voxel proton spectra, which results in both frequency shifts and lineshape broadening. This effect can be used to estimate the relative metabolic distribution in the GM and WM for directly observable metabolites. Fractional distributions estimated with this method demonstrated good agreement with literature values for the selected metabolites.