Assessment and optimization of TEA-PRESS sequences in 1H MRS and MRSI of the breast

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) and Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging (MRSI) are useful tools when used in combination with standard imaging methods that may offer a significant advantage in certain clinical applications such as cancer localization and staging. Incorporation of these tools in clinical practice is, however, limited due to the considerable amount of user intervention that spectrum processing and quantification requires and due to the importance of acquisition parameter optimization in spectrum quality. In this work various acquisition parameters and their effects in spectrum quality are investigated. In order to assess the quality of various spectroscopic techniques, a series of experiments were conducted using a standard solution. The application of water and fat suppression techniques and their compatibility with other parameters were also investigated. A number of artifacts were provoked to study the effects in spectrum quality. The stability of the equipment, the appearance of errors and artifacts and the reproducibility of the results were also examined to obtain useful conclusions for the interaction of acquisition parameters. All the data were processed with specialized computer software (jMRUI 2.2, FUNCTOOL) to analyze various aspects of the measurements and quantify various parameters such as signal to noise ratio (SNR), full width at half maximum (FWHM), peak height and j-modulation. The experience acquired from the conducted experiments was successfully applied in acquisition parameter optimization and improvement of clinical applications for the biochemical analysis of breast lesions by significantly improving the spectrum quality, SNR and spatial resolution.