Real time NMR data processing

Baseline removal by subtraction, in which each second-excitation RF pulse changes its polarity, can be successfully used in a variety of data processing applications in real time by appropriately coding the odd and even excitations. The authors demonstrate this technique in: (1) fast fat/water imaging utilizing phase modulation of the spectral components and (2) the detection of lactate in vivo by proton saturation transfer. They achieved more than 80% fat or water suppression in imaging of the knee and obtained lactate signal with an SNR (signal-to-noise ratio) of 10:1 after 6 min of data acquisition. A large number of other MR (magnetic resonance) applications can also use this simultaneous data acquisition/processing technique.<>