Roland Kreis1, Christine Sandra Bolliger1, Erin Leigh MacMillan1, Uwe Boettcher2, Chris Boesch1
1Depts Clinical Research and Radiology, University Bern, Bern, Switzerland; 2Healthcare Sector, Customer Solutions Division , Siemens AG, Erlangen, Germany
MEGA PRESS editing is the most widely used technique for GABA measurements in human brain. Because it is an add/subtract method and measurement times are long, it is susceptible to small frequency, phase and amplitude drifts due to either patient related or technical instabilities. We have therefore combined it with non-water-suppressed MRS using the metabolite cycling technique to include the strong water signal in every acquisition as a reference signal. Editing parameters were optimized In Vitro and in vivo for stability and sensitivity while retaining suppression efficiency for contaminating macromolecule signals.