In-vivo measurement of taurine with optimized double-quantum-filter technique in human, normal and glioma animal model

Motivation: Taurine in the brain plays an important role in neuroprotection, nervous system development and aging mechanisms. Goal(s): This study aimed to optimize the double-quantum-filter (DQF) MRS technique for the detection of taurine to make the results more reliable and to further enable the in-vivo measurement of taurine. Approach: Phantom experiments were used to optimize the sequence. Then taurine was measured in animal brains at 7T and in human brains at 3T. Results: The results measured with the optimized DQF sequence were in better agreement to the true value and provides more reliable quantification compared with direct measurement MRS methods. Impact: This study optimized the taurine detection technique, and provided a more reliable method for in-vivo measurement of taurine at low field strengths, which provides a non-invasive tool for clinical research of neuromodulation.