title: Fast spectroscopic imaging of water and fat resonances to improve the quality of MR images.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The authors evaluated whether fast spectroscopic imaging of water and fat resonances can produce high-quality anatomic magnetic resonance (MR) images of rodent tumors and human breast.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fast MR spectroscopic images of eight rats with mammary tumors were acquired by using a 4.7-T MR unit equipped with self-shielded gradient coils. MR spectroscopic images of four human breasts were acquired with a 1.5-T MR unit.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Artifacts due to eddy currents were minimal. Images synthesized from MR spectroscopic data, in which intensity was proportional to water signal peak height, were similar to T2-weighted MR images. Boundaries of rodent mammary tumors are similar but not identical on peak height-weighted and T2-weighted images. MR spectroscopic images of human breast showed improved detail compared to gradient-echo MR images.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Preliminary results suggest that incorporation of fast MR spectroscopic imaging methods into many standard clinical MR imaging procedures may substantially improve image quality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Chicago Medical Center, IL 60637, USA.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Kovar
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Al-Hallaq
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Zamora
authors.forename: J N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: River
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Karczmar
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000473:pathology*; D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D000818:Animals; D001834:Body Water; D001940:Breast / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005260:Female; D006614:Hindlimb; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008325:Mammary Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000473:pathology*; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D051381:Rats