Flip angle effects in STEAM and PRESS-optimized versus sinc RF pulses.

Flip angle dependence of the localized single-voxel 1H NMR spectroscopic sequences STEAM and PRESS using numerically optimized Shinnar-Le Roux (SLR) and conventional sinc RF pulses has been evaluated. Phantom experiments were used to evaluate voxel profiles from MR images of the selected voxels. Information on the total excited volume was recorded from the integrated area under the water peak in the localized spectrum at different flip angles (theta = 0 degrees-180 degrees). The voxel profiles for both the STEAM and PRESS sequences using the SLR RF pulses were found to be identical, unlike the case for the sinc RF pulses. The SLR RF pulses in the PRESS sequence were found to be more sensitive to flip angle variations. Localized, water-suppressed 1H NMR spectra recorded from the frontal gray matter in healthy volunteers (n = 3) showed less lipid contamination using the SLR RF pulses compared with the sinc RF pulses.