Towards 31P-informed 1H MRSI: A framework for the analysis of shared spectral features in vivo

Motivation: 1H MRSI has challenges in reliably separating phosphocholine (PC) and glycerophosphocholine (GPC) from each other. 31P MRSI discriminates readily between PC and GPC but has a limited sensitivity. Combing both methods offer interesting possibilities for surrogate markers. Goal(s): Identification of mutual spectral features in both in vivo 31P and 1H MRSI data and the exploitation of complementary metabolite information. Approach: Establishment of a Surrogate MARker Testing (SMART) framework using various novel routines implemented in MATLAB. Results: The SMART framework could be successfully applied to in vivo 31P and 1H MRSI data acquired in this study, and identified initial promising surrogate features. Impact: The exploitation of mutually correlated spectral features in vivo from different molecular MR techniques, e.g. 31P and 1H MRSI, enables the identification of potential new surrogate markers.