Ralf Mekle1,2, Giulio Gambarota3,
Lijing Xin1, Rolf Gruetter1,4
1Laboratory for Functional and
Metabolic Imaging (LIFMET), Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne,
Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland; 2Department of Radiology, University
of Lausanne, Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland; 3GlaxoSmithKline
Clinical Imaging Center, London, United Kingdom; 4Departments of
Radiology, Universities of Lausanne and Geneva, Lausanne and Geneva, Vaud and
Geneve, Switzerland
The
knowledge of the proton T2 relaxation time of coupled metabolites is valuable
for improving spectral quantification not only in long TE MRS, but also in a
number of MRS editing techniques, which are typically performed at moderate
TEs. At the field strength of 7T, the T2 of singlets has already been
reported, but not the systematic measurement of the T2s of coupled
metabolites. In this study, measurement of the T2 of coupled spin resonances
of metabolites in human brain at 7T using the spin echo full intensity
acquired localized (SPECIAL) MRS technique is described for the first time.