Ivan Emilov Dimitrov,2, Craig R. Malloy3,4,
Andrew G. Webb5
1Philips Medical Systems, Cleveland,
OH, United States; 2Advanced Imaging Reseach Center (AIRC), UT
Southwestern, Dallas, TX, United States; 3Advanced Imaging
Research Center (AIRC), UT Southwestern, Dallas, TX, United States; 4VA
North Texas Health Care System, Dallas, TX, United States; 5Radiology,
Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
The metabolic implications of lipid accumulation may depend on the composition of the fat itself. Analytical high-resolution studies of 13C have shown the ability of MRS to distinguish a variety of fat components. Here we report on a high-sensitivity 13C surface coil with tailored penetration designed to specifically obtain high-resolution human in vivo carbon spectra of subcutaneous fat at 7T. The coil uses a zig-zag pattern with 5 mm distance between the opposing-current segments and shows the desired penetration depth of a few millimeters. In vivo coupled spectra show high sensitivity, and good decoupling is observed in phantoms.
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