Tom W.J. Scheenen1,
2, Pascal Sati3, Steve Li4, Jun Shen4,
Daniel S. Reich3
1Radiology,
Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands; 2Lab
of Functional and Molecular Imaging, National Institute of Neurologiocal
Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United
States; 3Translational Neuroradiology Unit, Neuroimmunology
Branch, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National
Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States; 4MRS Core
Facility, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health,
Bethesda, MD, United States
31P-MRSI of the human brain with a dual 1H-31P TxRx volume coil at 7T was explored in five healthy volunteers. The combined coil setup allowed 1H irradiation of water during TR to enhance the signal of 31P metabolites. This Nuclear Overhauser Enhancement was explored in phantoms and quantified in several deep brain areas of healthy volunteers, allowing the acquisition of good quality spectra of the whole brain with a spatial resolution of 10.6 cc in 21 minutes.
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