Quantitative SENSE-MRSI of the human brain

Purpose elop a method for estimating metabolite concentrations using phased-array coils and sensitivity-encoded (SENSE) magnetic resonance spectroscopic images (MRSI) of the human brain. als and Methods thod is based on the phantom replacement technique and uses receive coil sensitivity maps and body-coil loading factors to account for receive B1 inhomogeneity and variable coil loading, respectively. Corrections for cerebrospinal fluid content from the MRSI voxel were also applied, and the total protocol scan time was less than 15 min. The method was applied to 10 normal human volunteers using a multislice 2D-MRSI sequence at 3 T, and seven different brain regions were quantified. s yl aspartate (NAA) concentrations varied from 9.7 to 14.7 mM, creatine (Cr) varied from 6.6 to 10.6 mM and choline (Cho) varied from 1.6 to 3.0 mM, in good general agreement with prior literature values. sions tative SENSE-MRSI of the human brain is routinely possible using an adapted phantom-replacement technique. The method may also be applied to other MRSI techniques, including conventional phase encoding, with phased-array receiver coils, provided that coil sensitivity profiles can be measured.