Time-domain combination of MR spectroscopy data acquired using phased-array coils

A new method for efficiently processing MRS data acquired with phased-array coils is presented. The method consists of performing phase compensation (i.e., redefining the signal phase relative to a common reference) of the signals in the time domain prior to combining the signals. The resulting spectra are equivalent to those obtained by previously published methods for phased-array spectral data processing (i.e., processing the signals individually and then combining them in the frequency domain). The method allows spectra acquired with phased-array coils to be processed as efficiently as those acquired with non-phased-array coils. Both single voxel spectroscopy (SVS) and chemical shift imaging (CSI) data sets may be processed by this method. Magn Reson Med 52:1207-1213, 2004. (C) 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.