RESOLUTION OF CHEMICAL-SPECIES IN NMR IMAGES USING A DECONVOLUTION CONTRAST TECHNIQUE

A new technique for obtaining chemically specific spatial information using NMR imaging is presented. The method, when applied to N chemical species, requires the acquisition of N images, with each image acquir ed at a different imaging gradient strength, together with a spectrum acquired under conditions of zero gradient. Straightforward algebraic manipulation of the images followed by a deconvolution (here employing the CLEAN algorithm) leads to N images, one of each species present. The method has advantages over chemical-shift imaging in that it does not require an entire experimental dimension for chemical-shift spectr al data. It also has advantages over selective chemical-excitation met hods, as it may be used in systems where the chemical species of inter est have multiple resonances and when different chemical resonances ar e in close proximity to one another (in terms of Larmor frequency) or even partially overlap. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.