Quantification Precision of Human Brain 1H MRS at Different Field Strengths: A Simulation Study

Dinesh K. Deelchand¹, Isabelle Iltis¹, Pierre-Francois Van de Moortele¹, Pierre-Gilles Henry¹

¹H MRS allows measurement of the concentration of a number of brain metabolites in vivo. It is generally accepted that the precision of quantification improves with B₀. In principle, two factors may contribute to this increase in quantification precision: higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and higher spectral resolution. In this work, we assess the respective contribution of these two factors using simulations. We report that, especially above 3-4 Tesla, increased SNR is the major contributor to the increase in quantification precision, as the gain in chemical-shift dispersion is offset by the increase in linewidth in vivo.