MRS fitting challenge data setup by ISMRM MRS study group

Abstract

Fitting of the magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) data plays an important role in the quantification of metabolite concentrations. A number of commercial and home-built packages are available and used by the MRS community to fit spectra. The question arose whether any one of these packages was superior to the others or whether they all perform similarly if appropriately used. Hence, in preparation for a workshop of the ISMRM MRS study group on MR Spectroscopy: from Current Best Practice to Latest Frontiers, which took place in August 2016, it was decided by the organizing committee, that this question should be tackled by a fitting challenge open to everybody, where a set of spectra would be evaluated. For this purpose, synthetic MRS data were generated for 28 datasets. Short-echo time PRESS spectra were simulated using ideal pulses for the common metabolites at mostly near-normal brain concentrations. A macromolecular contribution was also included. Modulations of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), lineshape type and width, concentrations of γ-aminobutyric acid, glutathione and macromolecules, and inclusion of artifacts and lipid signals to mimic tumor spectra were included as challenges to be coped with.