Signal-to-Noise improvement of cardiac Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy signals acquired by phased-array coils: a simulation based approach

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is a non-invasive technique for obtaining in vivo biochemical information. Since the amplitude of the peaks in magnetic resonance (MR) spectra is proportional to the metabolite concentrations, obtaining the best signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is fundamental for the accurate quantification of the metabolites. New acquisition strategies for the improvement of the intrinsic low SNR of MRS signals have been designed, without increasing the examination time. These approaches are based on the use of multiple receiving coils, called phased array coils. In this context one of the main challenges is to determine the best combination of the acquired signals that optimize the resulting SNR. This paper describes a novel method for the combination of MR signals acquired by phased array coils, even in presence of correlated noise between the acquisition channels. Performance evaluation is carried out on simulated 1H-MRS signals and experimental results are obtained on in vivo cardiac 1H-MR spectra.