Motivation: Accurate molecular and pathological diagnoses rely on fresh tissue samples, making it essential to precisely sample and preserve the tumor to maintain its integrity. MRSI accurately identifies tumor hotspots and can be used for obtaining high quality samples. Goal(s): To validate MRSI maps using mass spectrometry as a gold standard. Approach: We processed 7T MRSI metabolic ratio maps to identify tumor hotspots, which we subsequently compared with their quantitatively analysed metabolic profiles. Results: We obtained high quality samples based on our 7T MRSI maps. The MRSI vs MS profiles show limited correlations, however, with a scope to improve. Impact: Using 7T MRSI maps to sample metabolic hotspots allowed us to compare MRSI findings with histological and quantitative features. We demonstrated that combining MRSI and MS offers a more comprehensive metabolic profile of gliomas with room for improvement.
Acharya et al. (Tue,) studied this question.