For many clinical applications of proton MR spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) of
the brain, diagnostic assessment is limited by insufficient coverage provi
ded by single- or multislice acquisition methods as well as by the use of v
olume preselection methods. Additionally, traditional spectral analysis met
hods may limit the operator to detailed analysis of only a few selected bra
in regions. It is therefore highly desirable to use a fully 3D approach, co
mbined with spectral analysis procedures that enable automated assessment o
f 3D metabolite distributions over the whole brain. In this study, a 3D ech
o-planar MRS[ technique has been implemented without volume preselection to
provide sufficient spatial resolution with maximum coverage of the brain.
Using MRSI acquisitions in normal subjects at 1.5T and a fully automated sp
ectral analysis procedure, an assessment of the resultant spectral quality
and the extent of viable data in human brain was carried out. The analysis
found that 69% of brain voxels were obtained with acceptable spectral quali
ty at TE = 135 ms, and 52% at TE = 25 ms. Most of the rejected voxels were
located near the sinuses or temporal bones and demonstrated poor B-o homoge
neity and additional regions were affected by stronger lipid contamination
at TE = 25 ms. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.