Optimized spectral analysis in magnetic resonance spectroscopy for early tumor diagnostics

Molecular imaging through magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) can provide information about key metabolites. Conventional applications of MRS are hampered by data analysis via the fast Fourier transform (FFT). Most MRS studies for cancer detection have relied upon estimations of a mere handful or even a single composite metabolite, e.g. total choline. These have yielded incremental improvements in diagnostic accuracy. In vitro studies reveal richer metabolic information for identifying cancer, particularly in closely-overlapping resonances. Among these are phosphocholine, a marker of malignant transformation. The FFT cannot assess these congested spectral components. This can be done by the fast Pade transform (FPT), an advanced, high-resolution, quantification-equipped method, applied to MRS time signals as encoded from patients with breast cancers and other cancers, with benign pathology and with normal tissue, as illustrated herein for the latter. With realistic noise levels, the FPT accurately computes the metabolite concentrations, including phosphocholine, which completely underlies phosphoethanolamine. In sharp contrast, the FFT produces a rough envelope spectrum with only a few shortened, broadened peaks, and key metabolites altogether absent. The FPT clearly separates true metabolites from spurious resonances. The efficiency and high resolution of the FPT translates into shortened examination time of the patient. These capabilities strongly suggest that by applying the FPT to time signals encoded in vivo from breast cancer and other malignancies, MRS will fulfill its potential to become a clinically- reliable, cost-effective method for early cancer detection