Jamie Near1, Philip J. Cowen1,
Peter Jezzard2
1Department of Psychiatry, University
of Oxford, Oxford, OXON, United Kingdom; 2The Centre for
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain, John Radcliffe Hospital,
Oxford, OXON, United Kingdom
GABA
editing using the MEGA-PRESS technique at 3T results in signal contamination
from macromolecules. We present a
modified spectral editing technique called MEGA-SPECIAL, which enables the
use of longer, more frequency-selective editing pulses. This, in turn, enables the use of
previously described strategies for the removal of macromolecular contamination. In-vitro measurements indicate that the
newly developed sequence provides improved editing efficiency over
MEGA-PRESS, and experiments performed in-vivo confirm that macromolecular
suppression is achieved.