Magnetic resonance spectroscopy in vivo.

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has become an important non-invasive investigative technique in medicine and biology. The most recent development has been the ability to perform magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in selected regions within the human body. Such volumes can be selected by techniques which fall into the following broad categories: surface coil methods, surface coils with depth selection, volume selection and chemical shift mapping. The latter two methods use magnetic field gradients, present on magnetic resonance imaging systems, to select the volume. MRS can be used to measure phosphorus and proton metabolites and hence study tissue biochemistry in-vivo.