Integrated 3D display of brain surface anatomy and MR spectral data

We describe a method of displaying the relationship between MR spectral data and an MRI-derived three-dimensional (3D) model of the same subject's brain surface. In this way, biochemical abnormalities in the MR spectra can be localized with respect to specific gyral convolutions (e.g., those associated with movement and sensation), which are best identified on 3D brain models. This was accomplished by retrospectively registering spectral data and MR images, acquired with different head coils. The highly resolved MR images were used to identify the brain surface in the poorly resolved spectral data and to produce a 3D rendition of brain surface metabolite distributions. This was then integrated with an MRI-derived 3D model of brain gyral anatomy. The method was tested on P31 spectral data from a phantom and from a human volunteer.