Feasibility of Using a 1T Extremity Scanner with a Four-Element Array to Detect ³¹P in the Human Calf

摘要

The feasibility of conducting in vivo non-localized skeletal muscle ³¹P Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) with a low-cost extremity 1 Tesla magnet is demonstrated. We designed and built a transmit-only quadrature birdcage, four-element receive coil array, and employed a home-built spectrometer interfaced with a commercial ONI 1.0T magnet. In phantom comparison tests with a large loop coil of comparable size, the array was found to improve the SNR by a factor of 1.8 and the linewidth from 0.72 ppm to 0.45 ppm. Phantom and in vivo testing results show only 6 averages with a 4 second repetition time are required to obtain quantifiable ³¹P spectra. Initial in vivo human skeletal muscle ³¹P spectra successfully allowed for peak characterization. A low-cost approach to MRS could enable more widespread use of this tool in clinical diagnosis and in vivo metabolic research.