Optimization of ¹H-MRS methods for large-volume acquisition of low-concentration downfield resonances at 3 T and 7 T

This goal of this study was to optimize spectrally selective ¹H-MRS methods for large-volume acquisition of low-concentration metabolites with downfield resonances at 7 T and 3 T, with particular attention paid to detection of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD⁺) and tryptophan.

Spectrally selective excitation was used to avoid magnetization-transfer effects with water, and various sinc pulses were compared with a band-selective, uniform response, pure-phase (E-BURP) pulse. Localization using a single-slice selective pulse was compared with voxel-based localization that used three orthogonal refocusing pulses, and low bandwidth refocusing pulses were used to take advantage of the chemical shift displacement of water. A technique for water sideband removal was added, and a method of coil channel combination for large volumes was introduced.

Proposed methods were compared qualitatively with previously reported techniques at 7 T. Sinc pulses resulted in reduced water signal excitation and improved spectral quality, with a symmetric, low bandwidth-time product pulse performing best. Single-slice localization allowed shorter TEs with large volumes, enhancing signal, whereas low-bandwidth slice-selective localization greatly reduced the observed water signal. Gradient cycling helped remove water sidebands, and frequency aligning and pruning individual channels narrowed spectral linewidths. High-quality brain spectra of NAD⁺ and tryptophan are shown in 4 subjects at 3 T.

Improved spectral quality with higher downfield signal, shorter TE, lower nuisance signal, reduced artifacts, and narrower peaks was realized at 7 T. These methodological improvements allowed for previously unachievable detection of NAD⁺ and tryptophan in human brain at 3 T in under 5 min.