Jimin Ren1, Ivan Dimitrov1,2,
Craig R. Malloy1,3, A. Dean Sherry1,4
1Advanced Imaging Research
Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United
States; 2Philips Medical System, Cleveland, OH, United States; 3VA
North Texas Health Care System, Dallas, TX, United States; 4Department
of Texas at Dallas, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, United
States
Proton MRS offers many advantages for detection of a number of muscle metabolites. However, quantitative and reliable measurement of muscle metabolites can be quite challenging due to multiple factors intrinsic to MRS and skeletal muscle itself. We present here an optimized 1H MRS acquisition protocol, termed muscle module, for acquisition of high-quality spectra for easy data analysis. This muscle module is based on a STEAM sequence, with data acquisition at two different echo-times, TE 140 and 280 ms, without applying water-suppression pulses. Its advantage in spectral resolution enhancement and quantitative analysis is demonstrated in a large population (n = 80).