REPRODUCIBILITY OF HIGH-SPATIAL-RESOLUTION PROTON MAGNETIC-RESONANCE SPECTROSCOPIC IMAGING IN THE HUMAN BRAINS

The application of proton (H-1) magnetic resonance spectroscopic imagi ng (MRSI) allows for noninvasive, localized analyses of brain biochemi stry; however, minimal work has been devoted to the evaluation of H-1 MRSI reproducibility. This study examined the reproducibility of 1H MR SI from five normal subjects on two occasions, separated by 10 days. R eproducibility of the MR signal was evaluated in the context of automa ted shimming, automated processing, and accurate subject repositioning . Reliability measures for physicochemical indices (choline moieties, creatine, N-acetylaspartate, and myo-inositol) were moderately concord ant across repeat studies. Gain variation and repositioning results we re excellent. It has been concluded that H-1 MRSI reproducibility is a dequate for serial studies of brain metabolism.