A method for NMR spectroscopy metabolite imaging utilizes the steps of: applying to a desired portion of a sample a pulsed phase- encoding linear magnetic gradient signal in at least one of the three orthogonal dimensions of a Cartesian coordinate set, prior to acquisition of free- induction-decay NMR response signals from the sample portion; substantially eliminating from at least the sample portion eddy current fields induced responsive to the phase-encoding gradient pulses; maximizing the signal-to-noise ratio of the NMR response signals; and displaying the data resulting from Fourier transformation of the received response data. A high-field NMR imaging system is provided with self- shielded gradient coils, to subsantially remove eddy-current effects, and at least one of maximized-SNR antenna, of quadrature-driven volume RF coil and/or surface RF coil types are utilized for both transmission of the excitation RF pulses and reception of the RF response signals. The acquired FID data is filtered and a Fourier transform reconstruction, of dimension d' equal to one greater than the numder d of spatial dimensions to be displayed, is performed.
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