6533b825fe1ef96bd1281ce5

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Disease Biomarkers: Modelling MR Spectroscopy and Clinical Applications

subject

description

Clinical MRS has become a reference technique for in vivo evaluating the metabolism of different tissues, with special application to brain and prostate lesion characterization and tumour’s follow-up. It allows detecting relevant changes that cannot be appreciated in the conventional MR images. Nowadays, MRS has been widely applied in many different brain pathologies with excellent results as a disease biomarker. Since the different diseases and grades have different manifestations in the spectroscopic profile, a deep understanding of the subjacent biology is needed for the signal interpretation. The development of high-field (≥3 T) scanners has permitted the acquisition of high-quality MRS also in other organs and regions outside the brain. The most non-brain extended application of spectroscopy nowadays is in the detection and monitoring of prostate cancer. The technique is increasingly being applied also for the detection and diagnosis of breast lesions, the quantification of the hepatic fat fraction in steatosis and the characterization of muscle metabolism. The evolution of the acquisition technology with spectroscopic imaging, higher spatial resolution, lower acquisition times and the automation of the spectra processing analysis will encourage the wider application of this technique in many degenerative and oncologic diseases.