Separation of intra- and extramyocellular lipid signals in proton MR spectra by determination of their magnetic field distribution

In skeletal musculature intramyocellular (IMCL) and extramyocellular lipids (EMCL) are stored in compartments of different geometry and experience different magnetic field strengths due to geometrical susceptibility effects. The effect is strong enough to---at least partly---separate IMCL and EMCL contributions in (1)H MR spectroscopy, despite IMCL and EMCL consisting of the same substances. The assessment of intramyocellular lipid stores in skeletal musculature by (1)H MR spectroscopy plays an important role for studying physiological and pathological aspects of lipid metabolism. Therefore, a method using mathematical tools of Fourier analysis is developed to obtain the magnetic field distribution (MFD) from the measured spectra by deconvolution. A reference lipid spectrum is required which was recorded in tibial yellow bone marrow. It is shown that the separation of IMCL contributions can be performed more precisely---compared to other methods---based on the MFD. Examples of deconvolution in model systems elucidate the principle. Applications of the proposed approach on in vivo examinations in m. soleus and m. tibialis anterior are presented. Fitting the IMCL part of the MFD by a Gaussian lineshape with a linewidth kept fixed with respect to the linewidth of creatine and with the assumption of a smooth but not necessarily symmetrical shape for the EMCL part, the only free fit parameter, the amplitude of the IMCL part, is definite and subtraction leads to the EMCL part in the MFD. This procedure is especially justified for the soleus muscle showing a severely asymmetrical distribution which might lead to a marked overestimation of IMCL using common line fitting procedures.