SNR Enhancement of Intermolecular Double-Quantum Coherence MRS in Inhomogeneous Fields with Phased Array Coils

Yanqin Lin^1,2, Zhong Chen¹, Jianhui Zhong²

In human brains, intermolecular double-quantum coherences (iDQCs) can be used to acquire high-resolution localized magnetic resonance spectra (MRS) in the presence of large field inhomogeneity where conventional MRS methods fail. However, an intrinsic low SNR limits their practical applications. Here, we show that the SNR of iDQC MRS can be greatly improved through use of phased array coils. iDQC signal from a 32-channel phased array head coil was combined together using a nonparametric singular value decomposition algorithm. The results indicate that the iDQC spectra from the 32-channel coil have the SNR 1.6~2.5 times of that from a CP birdcage head coil.