B0 Shimming in the Human Breast for 7 Tesla MR Spectroscopy

Mariska Petra Luttje¹, Jannie Petra Wijnen¹, Wybe J. M. van Der Kemp¹, Peter R. Luijten¹, Dennis W. J. Klomp¹

The effects of susceptibility and breathing on the spectral resolution in the unilateral breast measurements of seven healthy female volunteers have been investigated. Using static 3^rd order B₀ shimming, a spectral resolution of 0.18 ppm can be obtained from the entire breast. This allows using ³¹P MRS at 7T to investigate phospholipid metabolism in the human breast in e.g. the assessment of cancer treatments. Furthermore, substantial dynamic B₀ field alterations that strongly correlate to breathing are observed, that can be corrected for to improve spectral resolution and SNR even further.