Evaluation of a newly discovered water suppression pulse sequence for high-field in vivo 1H surface coil NMR spectroscopy.

The use of a water-suppressing spin-echo pulse sequence reported recently (V. Sklenar and A. Bax, J. Magn. Reson. 74, 469 (1987); M. von Kienlin, M. DeCorps, J. P. Albrand, M. F. Foray, and P. Blondet, J. Magn. Reson. 76, 169 (1987)) was evaluated for in vivo brain proton surface coil NMR spectroscopy. The studies were performed on cat brain using surface coils at 4.7 T. The sequence produced brain spectra with adequate water suppression, and a broader excitation profile than sequences which form spin echoes using 1331 pulses (P. J. Hore, J. Magn. Reson. 54, 539 (1983); H. P. Hetherington, M. J. Avison, and R. G. Shulman, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 82, 3115 (1985)). The phase artifacts were smaller than those produced in 1331 methods, but theoretical analysis showed they should not be completely absent. The effectiveness of lengthening the spin-echo delay in the new sequence for suppression of unwanted lipid resonances was demonstrated. The sequence was shown to be capable of detecting lactate formation and clearance in a global cerebral ischemia experiment.