Conformal NMR spectroscopy: accurate localization to noncuboidal volumes with optimum SNR.

"Conformal Spectroscopy" is a general method for the acquisition of accurately localized NMR spectra from noncuboidal regions with optimum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The method is based upon the localization of volumes defined by a number of intersecting oblique slices and may be implemented using standard imager hardware. Conformal techniques can enhance many existing localization sequences such as ISIS (31P) and STEAM (1H) resulting in typical SNR improvements of around 1.8, equivalent to a more than threefold reduction in acquisition time. Applications include in vivo tumor spectroscopy.