Technique of Proton- and Phosphorous-MR-Spectroscopy

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is an important non-invasive method that can reveal the concentration and spatial distribution of particular biochemically relevant tissue metabolites. Proton MRS is routinely applicable in the clinical setting providing good quality results even with a moderate magnetic field strength of 1.5 T. Relative values of metabolite concentrations are mostly used for the assessment of metabolic disorders. Absolute quantification of metabolites can be achieved by means of internal or external reference scans. Phosphorous MRS extends the range of detectable molecules to energy and cell membrane metabolism. The lower detection limit of metabolite concentrations is in the range of some mmol/kg. Depending on the magnetic field strength, MRS enables a spatial resolution of a few milliliters. The use of phosphorous MRS is considerably limited because higher field strengths of at least 3.0 T and additional expensive hardware for signal processing are required.