Water-cycled STEAM spectroscopy in the liver at 7T

Motivation: Hepatic choline-containing compounds (CCC) are an important biomarker of metabolic health. Goal(s): The aim of this work is to measure the concentration of fat and choline-containing compounds in the liver using water-suppression cycled (WSC) and water suppressed (WS) spectroscopy at 7T. Approach: Livers of seven healthy volunteers were scanned using water-suppression cycling and the results were compared with standard water-suppressed acquisitions. Results: Similar concentrations of CCC were reported for both techniques, with WSC providing somewhat narrower line widths. Hepatic fat fractions were also very close using each method validating WSC as a method for use at 7T. Impact: Frequency-aligned spectra from water-suppression cycled acquisitions enable the quantification of low-concentration metabolites in vivo at 7T.