| 1. Hardware | |
|---|---|
| a. Field strength [T] | 3 T |
| b. Manufacturer | Siemens |
| c. Model (software version if available) | Verio (VB17) |
| d. RF coils: nuclei (transmit/receive), number of channels, type, body part | 32 channel head coil |
| e. Additional hardware | N/A |
| 2. Acquisition | |
|---|---|
| a. Pulse sequence | 3D localized correlated spectroscopy |
| b. Volume of interest (VOI) locations | Posterior cingulate gyrus |
| c. Nominal VOI size [cm3, mm3] | 3 × 3 × 3 cm3 |
| d. Repetition time (T R), echo time (T E) [ms, s] | T R 1500 ms, initial T E 30 ms, 0.8 ms increments |
|
e. Total number of excitations or acquisitions per spectrum In time series for kinetic studies i. Number of averaged spectra (NA) per time point ii. Averaging method (eg block‐wise or moving average) iii. Total number of spectra (acquired/in time series) |
64 increments with 8 averages per increment |
|
f. Additional sequence parameters (spectral width in Hz, number of spectral points, frequency offsets) If STEAM: mixing time (T M) If MRSI: 2D or 3D, FOV in all directions, matrix size, acceleration factors, sampling method |
F1/F2: 2000 Hz/1250 Hz, 1024 points |
| g. Water suppression method | WET |
| h. Shimming method, reference peak, and thresholds for “acceptance of shim” chosen | Automated B 0 field mapping followed by manual shimming of water to <14 Hz |
| i. Triggering or motion correction method (respiratory, peripheral, cardiac triggering, incl. device used and delays) | N/A |
| 3. Data analysis methods and outputs | |
|---|---|
| a. Analysis software | Felix‐2007 |
| b. Processing steps deviating from quoted reference or product | F2 domain (skewed sine‐squared window, 2048 points, magnitude mode), F1 domain (sine‐squared window, linear prediction to 96 points, zero‐filling to 512 points, magnitude mode) |
|
c. Output measure (eg absolute concentration, institutional units, ratio) |
Ratio to creatine |
| d. Quantification references and assumptions, fitting model assumptions | Each spectrum was calibrated by setting the lysine cross peak (at 3.00‐1.67 ppm) and specifying a constant ‘number of contour levels’ (set to 28), as well as a constant ‘level multiplier’ (defined as the difference between values of consecutive contour, set to 1.05). |
| 4. Data quality | |
|---|---|
| a. Reported variables (SNR, linewidth (with reference peaks)) | SNR and linewidth not described |
| b. Data exclusion criteria | No subjects excluded |
| c. Quality measures of postprocessing model fitting (eg CRLB, goodness of fit, SD of residual) | No QA measures described |
| d. Sample spectrum | Figure 1 |
The example above used the following paper: Lin AP, Ramadan S, Stern RA, et al. Changes in the neurochemistry of athletes with repetitive brain trauma: preliminary results using localized correlated spectroscopy. Alzheimers Res Ther. 2015;7(1):13.
Items listed in italics are details that were not included in the paper that served as the source for this example.