FAST SPECTROSCOPIC IMAGING OF WATER AND FAT RESONANCES TO IMPROVE THEQUALITY OF MR-IMAGES

Rationale and Objectives. The authors evaluated whether fast spectrosc opic imaging of water and fat resonances can produce high-quality anat omic magnetic resonance (MR) images of rodent tumors and human breast. Materials and Methods. Fast MR spectroscopy images eight rats with ma mmary tumors were acquired by using 4.7-T MR unit equipped with self-s hielded gradient coils. MR spectroscopic images of four human breasts were acquired with a 1.5-T MR unit. Results. Artifacts due to eddy cur rents were minimal. Images synthesized from MR spectroscopic data, in which intensity was proportional to water signal peak height, were sim ilar to T2-weighted MR images. Boundaries of rodent mammary tumors are similar but not identical on peak height-weighted and T2-weighted ima ges. MR spectroscopic images of human breast showed improved detail co mpared to gradient-echo MR images. Conclusion. Preliminary results sug gest that incorporation of fast MR spectroscopic imaging methods into many standard clinical MR imaging procedures may substantially improve image quality.