Stimulated anti-echo selection in spatially localized NMR spectroscopy.

Spectral localization using the stimulated-echo acquisition mode (STEAM) is one of the most popular methods in volume-localized in vivo NMR spectroscopy. The localized volume signal is generated via stimulated echoes from spins excited by three 90 degrees RF pulses, and the conventional STEAM sequence detects the stimulated-echo signal. From an analysis of the STEAM pulse sequence using the coherence transfer pathway formalism, stimulated anti-echoes are also formed by the same pulse sequence, which constitute the other half of the localized signal in the STEAM experiment. A new scheme of pulsed field gradients for the selection of stimulated anti-echoes was proposed, and localized spectroscopy in the stimulated anti-echo selection mode was achieved on a phantom and from in vivo rat brain. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.