Simulation of steady state free precession acquisition mode in coupled spin systems for fast MR spectroscopic imaging

Steady state free precession (SSFP) is an acquisition mode that may be useful for fast magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging in high field MR systems because of the high achievable SNR. In such systems, metabolites with coupled spin systems may be observed, but the knowledge of their behavior and the induced spectral changes is still limited. Such information is needed for both experiment design and spectrum quantification. This work presents computer simulations of model molecules and of myo-inositol, which is one of the clinically relevant target molecules and describes the algorithm used. It is shown that antiphase and multiple-quantum coherences may represent a considerable portion of the steady state. The effects in spectra are studied based on hypothesized relaxation parameters.