Surface coil localization of 31P NMR signals from orthotopic human kidney and liver

By incorporating the hyperbolic secant inversion pulses with the image-selected in vivo spectroscopy localization technique and by applying a gradient-echo imaging method, we have selected only the 31P NMR signals from orthotopic human kidney and liver, using a single concentric 1H/31P surface coil. Corresponding to the experimental results on animal studies, the phosphocreatine signal is dramatically reduced in the localized spectra. Our localization strategy also allows us to shim easily on the well-defined volume of interest and leads to high-resolution spectra that exhibit multiplet structure. Our results indicate that we can obtain localized signals from deep small organs and point the way for other human metabolism studies.