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An NMR Phantom Mimicking Intramyocellular (IMCL) and Extramyocellular Lipids (EMCL)

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Abstract

Intramyocellular lipids (IMCL) play an important role in muscle metabolism. 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy is the method of choice for non-invasive assessment of IMCL. However, IMCL quantitation is hampered by the larger overlapping resonances of extramyocellular lipids (EMCL). A phantom that mimics EMCL and IMCL, i.e., the 0.2-ppm resonance splitting, would be useful for testing acquisition strategies and post-processing algorithms. Here, we propose a phantom that consists of a cylindrical bottle filled with dairy cream and sunflower oil. Similar to EMCL, the oil (CH2) n protons resonate at 1.5 ppm; similar to IMCL, the spherical shape of droplets in cream results in (CH2) n protons resonating at 1.3 ppm. The relative amount of IMCL versus EMCL can be easily controlled in a systematic and exact fashion by displacing the voxel of interest across the cream–oil interface. This phantom is of simple construction and made of inexpensive and readily available materials, and should be of value in testing both acquisition and spectral analysis strategies in the context of ICML/ECML studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. GSK Clinical Imaging Centre, Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Road, London, W12 0NN, UK

    Giulio Gambarota, Robert L. Janiczek & Rexford D. Newbould

  2. Department of Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK

    Robert L. Janiczek & Rexford D. Newbould

  3. Radiology Department, Children’s Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Robert V. Mulkern

Authors
  1. Giulio Gambarota
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  2. Robert L. Janiczek
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  3. Robert V. Mulkern
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  4. Rexford D. Newbould
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Correspondence to Giulio Gambarota.

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Gambarota, G., Janiczek, R.L., Mulkern, R.V. et al. An NMR Phantom Mimicking Intramyocellular (IMCL) and Extramyocellular Lipids (EMCL). Appl Magn Reson 43, 451–457 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00723-012-0355-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00723-012-0355-4

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