Systems and methods of analyzing and interfacing with combined imaging and spectroscopy data for the brain

A diagnostic image and spectroscopic system, comprising:

• an analysis system comprising an analysis module, a data storage, and one or more hardware resources, in communication with one or more sources of brain region or brain tissue-specific spectroscopy data;
• and
• computer-executable logic, encoded in a memory device of the analysis system, for interpreting brain region or brain tissue-specific spectroscopy data, wherein the computer-executable logic is configured for execution of:
• decoding magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) vendor specific proprietary spectroscopy data format for multiple MRI devices using a unique file format such that the data from different MRI device may be used by the analysis system;
• processing the brain region or brain tissue-specific spectroscopy data to obtain one or more spectroscopic graphical representations of the brain region or brain tissue-specific spectroscopy data from multiple MRI device vendors;
• classifying the brain region or brain tissue-specific spectroscopy data into a classification of increased, decreased, or within a selected range by generating a metabolite specific threshold based on one or more ranges for each of a metabolite profile, patient age, echo time, and field strength of MRI;
• determining indicia corresponding to reference ranges for a metabolite, wherein one or more of the ranges are determined using one or more range parameters;
• co-registering the one or more spectroscopic graphical representations with regions of interest in imaging data obtained relative to brain tissue,
• wherein the imaging data is obtained simultaneously with the brain region or brain tissue-specific spectroscopy data;
• and
• displaying a first visual representation of co-registered brain region or brain tissue-specific spectroscopy data and imaging data,
• wherein the first visual representation comprises one or more sectional or three-dimensional views of brain tissue, the indicia corresponding to reference ranges for a metabolite, and a spatially correlated map of changes in brain region or brain tissue-specific spectroscopy data,
• wherein the reference ranges are generated using statistical analysis of healthy control data to create bounds for upper, lower, and normative ranges for a selected metabolite ratio.

A method of analyzing and representing metabolite levels in brain tissue comprising:

• processing brain region or brain tissue-specific spectroscopy data to obtain one or more spectroscopic graphical representations of the brain region or brain tissue-specific spectroscopy data;
• analyzing brain region or brain tissue-specific spectroscopy data to identify metabolite data or data derived from metabolite data measured relative to brain tissue of a subject using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS);
• generating one or more metabolite specific thresholds using a set of ranges of a plurality of parameters, the plurality of parameters comprising a metabolite profile, patient age, echo time, and field strength of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI);
• co-registering the one or more spectroscopic graphical representations with regions of interest in imaging data obtained relative to brain tissue, wherein the imaging data is obtained simultaneously with the brain region or brain tissue-specific spectroscopy data;
• displaying a first visual representation of co-registered brain region or brain tissue-specific spectroscopy data and imaging data, wherein the first visual representation comprises one or more sectional or three-dimensional views of brain tissue, a spatially correlated map of brain tissue-specific spectroscopy data;
• and a set of indicia corresponding to a classification based on the one or more metabolite specific thresholds;
• and
• displaying a reference range relative to the first visual representation, wherein the reference range comprises a scaling of results on a zero to one-hundred percentile rating based on the plurality of parameters selected.