Role of very high order and degree B0 shimming for spectroscopic imaging of the human brain at 7 tesla.

With the advent of ultrahigh field systems (7 T), significant improvements in spectroscopic imaging (SI) studies of the human brain have been anticipated. These gains are dependent upon the achievable B0 homogeneity, both globally (σB0Global, over the entire regions of interest or slice) and locally (σB0Global, influencing the linewidth of individual SI voxels within the regions of interest). Typically the B0 homogeneity is adjusted using shim coils with spatial distributions modeled on spherical harmonics which can be characterized by a degree (radial dependence) and order (azimuthal symmetry). However, the role of very high order and degree shimming (e.g., 3rd and 4th degree) in MRSI studies has been controversial. Measurements of σB0Global and σB0Local were determined from B0 field maps of 64×64 resolution. In a 10 mm thick slice taken through the region of the subcortical nuclei, we find that in comparison to 1st-2nd degree shims, use of 1st-3rd and 1st-4th degree shims reduces σB0Global by 29% and 55%, respectively. Using a SI voxel size of ∼1cc with an estimate of σB0Local from 3×3×3 B0 map pixels in this subcortical region, the number of pixels with σB0Local of less than 5 Hz increased from 24 to 59% with 1st-3rd and 1st-4th over 1st-2nd degree shims, respectively.