Characterization of MR spectroscopic imaging of the human head and limb at 2.0 T

Using section-select and phase-encoding gradients, the authors obtained phosphorus chemical shift images of the human head and limb. Phosphorus spectra were acquired from planar sections divided into voxels as small as 7 cm3 in calf muscle and 27 cm3 in brain, with total examination times, including setup and proton locator imaging, of roughly 1 hour. Both spin-echo and free induction decay (FID) methods were employed; the FID gave superior results. Signal-to-noise ratios for the beta-adenosine triphosphate and phosphocreatine resonances were as high as 10:1 and 13:1 from volumes of 27 cm3 in brain.