Spectroscopy - LASER, PRESS, STEAM

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The CMRR Spectroscopy Package contains spectroscopy, and the accompanying reconstructions developed at the CMRR. This package is now available for use at other institutions on compatible Siemens scanners by C2P agreement with CMRR and Siemens.

This page is for LASER, PRESS, STEAM: LASER - fully-adiabatic (B1-insensitive) excitation and refocusing[5,11]; PRESS - standard 3D localized spectroscopy with short TE; STEAM - optional ultra-short echo time STEAM (using asymmetric RF pulses)[7]. You may also be interested in the Spectroscopy sequences for FAST(EST)MAP or SEMI-LASER (SVS).

Actively developed as a collaboration between Edward J. Auerbach and Małgorzata Marjańska:

  • LASER (SVS and CSI): Fully-adiabatic (B1-insensitive) excitation and refocusing[5,11].
    • SEMI-LASER (SVS and CSI): Adiabatic refocusing, conventional sinc excitation[2].
    • MEGA-SEMI-LASER (SVS and CSI): SEMI-LASER with MEGA spectral editing.
  • PRESS (SVS and CSI): Standard 3D localized spectroscopy with short TE (~11 ms).
    • MEGA-PRESS (SVS): PRESS with MEGA spectral editing. Optional PRESS+4[3,4].
  • STEAM (SVS): Optional ultra-short echo time STEAM (using asymmetric RF pulses)[7].

The above spectroscopy sequences include the following options, which can be enabled and disabled on a per-protocol basis by the user:

  • VAPOR water suppression with optimized timing and RF for 3 T and 7 T
  • Optimized channel combination for multi-channel RF coils using an integrated reference scan
  • Automatic 3D OVS (not enabled for LASER, 1D only for SEMI-LASER[2])
  • Dual-banded simultaneous water and fat suppression
  • User-defined RF pulse durations (all variants) and R factors (LASER/SEMI-LASER only)
  • User-defined gradient ramp times and spoiler gradient definitions
  • 3D RF pulse selection profile readout with online display
  • Optional output to DICOM of unsummed averages (for offline processing)
  • Calibration loops (for optimizing flip angles, delays, water suppression, frequency offsets, et al.) with online display
  • Automatic calibration of reference voltage and water suppression flip angle
  • Option to acquire water reference and metabolite scans in one protocol (separate DICOM with noise reference - all sequences;)
  • Option to measure macromolecules using inversion-recovery technique
  • MEGA: interleaved editing frequencies (up to 4)
  • MEGA: optional dual-banded editing pulses with simultaneous water/fat suppression

License

Obtaining a license

The available supported software versions are listed below. If you are interested in obtaining these sequences, please follow this process to obtain a CMRR license:

  1. Obtain authorization from your Siemens Regional Collaboration Manager for the specific software you would like to license. 
    1. Contact your Siemens Regional Collaboration Manager for authorization. Please ask them to use the following text in the agreement: "developed by Dr. Małgorzata Marjańska and colleagues (“DEVELOPER”), employees of the University of Minnesota." If you are experiencing any delays working with your Siemens Regional Collaboration Manager please contact Colin Giambrone (colin.giambrone@siemens-healthineers.com). 
    2. Send the completed authorization form to Małgorzata Marjańska
  2. Select the license from the OTC website and complete the license agreement.
  3. CMRR will send you your account information and instructions for downloading the software.

Please note that the entire licensing process may take up to two weeks to process.

Once you have executed a C2P agreement and have been given an access password, the sequence binaries can be downloaded here by selecting the desired release number.

Citation

If you publish or present results obtained using the software or sequences in this package, please acknowledge the researchers who developed the sequences using the following language:

The MRS package was developed by Edward J. Auerbach and Małgorzata Marjańska  and provided by the University of Minnesota under a C2P agreement.

In addition, please cite the associated references:

Klomp DW, et al. Proton spectroscopic imaging of the human prostate at 7 T. NMR Biomed. 2009; 22:495-501. doi: 10.1002/nbm.1360

Tremblay S, et al. The use of magnetic resonance spectroscopy as a tool for the measurement of bi-hemispheric transcranial electric stimulation effects on primary motor cortex metabolism. J Vis Exp. 2014; (unknown volume):e51631. doi: 10.3791/51631

Marjańska M, et al. Brain dynamic neurochemical changes in dystonic patients: a magnetic resonance spectroscopy study. Mov Disord. 2013; 28:201-9. doi: 10.1002/mds.25279

Garwood M and DelaBarre L. The return of the frequency sweep: designing adiabatic pulses for contemporary NMR. J Magn Reson. 2001; 153:155-77. doi: 10.1006/jmre.2001.2340

Tkác I, et al. In vivo 1H NMR spectroscopy of rat brain at 1 ms echo time. Magn Reson Med. 1999; 41:649-56. doi: 10.1002/(sici)1522-2594(199904)41:4<649::aid-mrm2>3.0.co;2-g

Allaïli N, et al. Single-voxel (1)H spectroscopy in the human hippocampus at 3 T using the LASER sequence: characterization of neurochemical profile and reproducibility. NMR Biomed. 2015; 28:1209-17. doi: 10.1002/nbm.3364

Contact

If you have noticed a bug or have a request for a new feature in a future release, please contact

Małgorzata Marjańska. Be sure to include the sequence variant and the model of scanner you are using in the problem description.

Download Spectroscopy

Spectroscopy - Version Release 2017-07 "Tokyo"

Released July 14, 2017

Released 14 July 2017

Updated 26 February 2020

Spectroscopy - Version Release 2014-09

Released Sept. 24, 2014

Released 24 September 2014


References

  1. Marjańska M, et al. Localized 1H NMR spectroscopy in different regions of human brain in vivo at 7 T: T2 relaxation times and concentrations of cerebral metabolites. NMR Biomed. 2012; 25:332-9. doi: 10.1002/nbm.1754

  2. Klomp DW, et al. Proton spectroscopic imaging of the human prostate at 7 T. NMR Biomed. 2009; 22:495-501. doi: 10.1002/nbm.1360

  3. Tremblay S, et al. The use of magnetic resonance spectroscopy as a tool for the measurement of bi-hemispheric transcranial electric stimulation effects on primary motor cortex metabolism. J Vis Exp. 2014; (unknown volume):e51631. doi: 10.3791/51631

  4. Marjańska M, et al. Brain dynamic neurochemical changes in dystonic patients: a magnetic resonance spectroscopy study. Mov Disord. 2013; 28:201-9. doi: 10.1002/mds.25279

  5. Garwood M and DelaBarre L. The return of the frequency sweep: designing adiabatic pulses for contemporary NMR. J Magn Reson. 2001; 153:155-77. doi: 10.1006/jmre.2001.2340

  6. Mescher M, et al. Simultaneous in vivo spectral editing and water suppression. NMR Biomed. 1998; 11:266-72. doi: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1492(199810)11:6<266::aid-nbm530>3.0.co;2-j

  7. Tkác I, et al. In vivo 1H NMR spectroscopy of rat brain at 1 ms echo time. Magn Reson Med. 1999; 41:649-56. doi: 10.1002/(sici)1522-2594(199904)41:4<649::aid-mrm2>3.0.co;2-g

  8. Gruetter R and Tkác I. Field mapping without reference scan using asymmetric echo-planar techniques. Magn Reson Med. 2000; 43:319-23. doi: 10.1002/(sici)1522-2594(200002)43:2<319::aid-mrm22>3.0.co;2-1

  9. Kaiser LG, et al. Elimination of spatial interference in PRESS-localized editing spectroscopy. Magn Reson Med. 2007; 58:813-8. doi: 10.1002/mrm.21407

  10. Oz G and Tkáč I. Short-echo, single-shot, full-intensity proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy for neurochemical profiling at 4 T: validation in the cerebellum and brainstem. Magn Reson Med. 2011; 65:901-10. doi: 10.1002/mrm.22708

  11. Allaïli N, et al. Single-voxel (1)H spectroscopy in the human hippocampus at 3 T using the LASER sequence: characterization of neurochemical profile and reproducibility. NMR Biomed. 2015; 28:1209-17. doi: 10.1002/nbm.3364

  12. Deelchand DK, et al. Across-vendor standardization of semi-LASER for single-voxel MRS at 3T. NMR Biomed. 2021; 34:e4218. doi: 10.1002/nbm.4218

  13. Deelchand DK, et al. Plug-and-play advanced magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Magn Reson Med. 2022; 87:2613-2620. doi: 10.1002/mrm.29164

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