Measurement sequences for single voxel proton MR spectroscopy

Proton spectroscopy is easy to perform at clinically used whole body MR scanners, since the necessary hardware is identical to that of MR imaging. Only specific measurements sequences for the acquisition of volume selected spectral information and appropriate evaluation software have to be installed. Several techniques for a volume-selective spectroscopy have been proposed, but only two are widely used in clinical examinations: the double spin-echo sequence (point resolved spectroscopy sequence (PRESS)) and the stimulated echo sequence (stimulated echo acquisition mode (STEAM)). The properties of these sequences are described and additional techniques for artifact reduction and the extraction of selected signals are explained.