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Sci‐YIS Fri ‐ 06: High spatial resolution magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging of the brain at 3T for external beam radiation therapy planning
Author(s) -
Heikal A,
Wachowicz K,
Fallone B
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
medical physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.473
H-Index - 180
eISSN - 2473-4209
pISSN - 0094-2405
DOI - 10.1118/1.2031028
Subject(s) - magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging , image resolution , magnetic resonance imaging , nuclear magnetic resonance , voxel , nuclear medicine , neuroimaging , spectral resolution , computer science , optics , physics , radiology , medicine , artificial intelligence , spectral line , psychiatry , astronomy
Recent research has shown that Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging (MRSI) has good prospects for cancer detection and staging. Recent advancements in hardware in the form of RF coils and gradient sets have resulted in a good outlook for MRSI to be used in detection, localization, and classification of the lesions. Work done by other groups has shown that merging molecular imaging information from MRSI with anatomic scans used for treatment planning proved beneficial in delineating the tumor volume. MRSI involves defining an MR image volume which can be divided into a matrix of 3‐D sub‐volumes. Spectroscopic data is then acquired for all these sub‐volumes simultaneously. This leads to the quantification and localization of different levels of metabolites such as Choline, Creatine and N‐ acetylaspartate that are highly useful in detecting and possibly staging lesions. We focused on performing MRSI on the brain using a head transmit/receive (T/R) coil. Utilizing a reduced 2‐Dimensional Point Resolved Spectroscopy (2‐D PRESS) Turbo Spectroscopic Imaging (TSI) sequence to improve the spectral resolution of different metabolite peaks and the spatial resolution of the spectroscopic scan, good spectral/spatial information can be acquired revealing more accurate bio‐chemical imaging. Thus, an MRSI study could be easily used for improved treatment planning. Using 3T MRI we have improved the spatial resolution of the MRSI scans to 5×5×10mm 3 /voxel, meanwhile maintaining a good signal to noise ratio. This would increase the spatial relevance of the spectra acquired in the scan and in turn provide more information in the treatment planning phase.