[MR spectroscopy of amygdala: space saturation technique improves spectral quality].

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the effect of space saturation technique on the quality of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1 H-MRS) for amygdala.

METHODS

22 healthy volunteers were enrolled and scanned at a 3.0T MR scanner. Single voxel H-MRS of amygdala with and without space saturation bands around the region of interest was performed using point-resolved spectroscopy series (PRESS, TR/TE = 1500/30 ms). Raw spectral data were processed and signal-to-noise ratio of creatine (Cr-SNR), water-suppression level, full width at half maximum (FWHM) and root mean square (RMS) noise were obtained and compared between groups with and without saturation bands.

RESULTS

The Cr-SNR of spectra without and with saturation bands was 15.506 +/- 6.623 and 22.935 +/- 7.270, respectively [increased by (47.9% +/- 24.94%), P < 0.001]. The water-suppression level of spectra without and with saturation bands was (93.888% +/- 1.079%) and (95.722% +/- 0.461%), respectively [increased by (1.95% +/- 0.68%), P < 0.001]. The FWHM of spectra without and with saturation bands was 7.00 +/- 1.113 and 6.82 +/- 1.181, respectively [decreased by (2.57% +/- 1.12%), P > 0.053. The RMS noise of spectra without and with saturation bands was 0.606 +/- 0.0615 and 0.589 +/- 0.0470, respectively [reduced by (2.81% +/- 1.68%), P > 0.053.

CONCLUSION

Application of space saturation technique significantly elevates the Cr-SNR and the water-suppression level, and thus improves the spectral quality of amygdala without additional scanning time.