Abstract #2539

Mller H, Tittgemeyer M, Wetzel T

Twelve volunteers were investigated repetitively by PRESS using two different RF coils. Upon LCModel analysis, the SNR doubled, and Cramer-Rao lower bounds of major peaks improved with an 8-channel array instead of a birdcage coil. Indications of an overestimation of glutamate/glutamine and myo-inositol were obtained for the birdcage coil. The separation of N-acetylaspartate and N-acetylaspartylglutamate was improved for the array-coil. Intersubject variation was of the order of 6% for total NAA. A standard phased-array headcoil yields improved precision or permits major reductions of the total scan time. Pooling of data recorded with different RF coils is not advocated.