3 credits
Spring 2026 Lecture Upper Division
Students will learn the basics of Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS), practicalities of the MRS exam including hands-on experience, as well as examples of several clinical and research applications of MRS. The course teaches theory, practical aspects and applications of MRS and is intended for graduate students who either specialize in the field of medical imaging, or who would like to use MRS as a tool for their research. A thorough basis will be provided to understand signal generation and signal processing in MRS with particular emphasis on current techniques used in human in vivo MRS. Students will become familiar with the most relevant metabolites and their physiological functions detectable by MRS in the brain and other organs (mostly liver, kidney, muscle, prostate, breast). Further, students will learn different approaches for analysis and quantification of MRS data and become familiar with several different analysis tools available. Permission of instructor required.
Learning Outcomes1Describe the basics of signal generation and detection in MRS.
2Distinguish between several localization techniques and when to apply each.
3Implement and apply MRS parameters and protocols for specific applications.
4Compare and contrast the similarities and differences of different nuclei used in MRS (1H, 31P, 23Na).
5Implement and apply several MRS processing tools.
6Summarize the techniques and challenges of MRS signal quantification.
7Compare and contrast the advantages and limitations of MRS to other imaging modalities.
8Implement and apply several MRS analysis tools (e.g. LCModel).
9Set up and acquire human subject MRS data (using a 3T Siemens Prisma scanner).
Restrictions
made by Purdue students.