Localized in vivo human 1H MRS at very short echo times.

A new point-resolved spectroscopy (PRESS) sequence was developed that allows localized human proton MR spectra to be acquired at echo times (TEs) of 10 ms or less. The method was implemented on a 4 Tesla Varian research console and a clinical 3 Tesla Siemens Trio scanner. Human brain spectra acquired in vivo from the prefrontal cortex at TE=8 ms showed improved signals from coupled resonances (such as glutamate, glutamine, and myo-inositol) compared to spectra acquired at TE=30 ms. These improvements should result in more accurate quantitation of these metabolites.