To the chemist, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has become a necessary tool for decoding the molecular structure of compounds. To quote Loudon,“since its introduction in the late 1950s, NMR spectroscopy has revolutionized organic chemistry”. 1 This same technique, applied to the human body, has revolutionized biochemistry and now medicine in this new millennium. Utilizing many of the same underlying principles familiar to chemists, physicians and medical physicists have a diagnostic examination that is capable of early detection of disease, monitoring medical therapies or treatments, and in some cases, negating the need for surgical procedures. This valuable new tool is called magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) or to some “the virtual biopsy”.

The concept of using NMR to study the human body is by no means new. In fact, as reported by Andrew, 2 Bloch in 1946 obtained a strong proton signal by placing his finger in the radiofrequency coil of his spectrometer. The potential of using NMR to study biological systems was discussed throughout the 1950s and early 1960s; it was not until the advent of high-field superconducting magnets together with