title: SNR versus resolution in 3D 1H MRS of the human brain at high magnetic fields.
abstract: It is commonly accepted that the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR = peak-signal/RMS-noise) per-unit-time of proton MR spectroscopy (1H-MRS) is linearly proportional to the voxel volume. Consequently, with a headcoil and 30-min acquisition, 1 cm3 is considered the SNR-limited spatial resolution barrier in the human brain. However, since local linewidths, Delta(upsilon*) = (piT2*)(-1), at high magnetic fields (B0), are dominated by regional inhomogeneities (DeltaB0), i.e., T2* << T2, reducing the voxel dimensions may increase T2*. This could compensate, in part, for signal loss with volume decrease. It is shown that for two cubic voxels of sides l1 and l2, l1 > l2, as the volume decreases by (l1/l2)3, their SNR ratio is reduced by only (l1/l2)2 due to a commensurate T2* increase of l1/l2. This is demonstrated in a phantom and the brains of volunteers, with 3D 1H-MRS in a headcoil at 4 T. It is shown that while the cubic voxels' dimensions were all halved, reducing their volume eightfold, their metabolites' SNR decreased only fourfold, due to their Delta(upsilon*s') twofold decrease. In other words, both spatial and spectral resolutions were doubled at a significantly, x2, smaller-than-expected SNR loss. This advantage was exploited to produce quality high spatial resolution, 0.75 x 0.75 x 0.75 cm3, metabolic maps in a 27-min acquisition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: B S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Regal
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gonen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods*; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D013997:Time Factors