Rationale and Objective
To assess the impact of radial percentage k-space filling and signal averaging on
lung MRI image quality in 3D radial ultrashort echo-time (UTE) acquisition.
Materials and Methods
In this IRB approved prospective study, 25 patients (10-30 years) referred for MRI
examination for indications other than related to lungs were enrolled from January
2021 to November 2021. All the patients underwent lung MRI, using three different
UTE sequence parameters with radial (R) percentage of 100 or 200 and number of signal
averages (NSA) of one or two. Two radiologists independently assessed the images for
the outline of pleural and mediastinal surface, visibility of lung parenchyma, major
bronchi, and segmental bronchi. The quality of the images was assessed based on the
degree of motion artifacts. For objective assessment, signal-to-noise ratio, contrast-to-noise
ratio, and contrast ratio were calculated.
Results
The outline of pleural and mediastinal surface, lung parenchyma, and segmental bronchi
were best demonstrated on R100_NSA2 sequence. The major bronchi were best demonstrated
on R100_NSA2 and R100_NSA1 sequences. The intersequence difference was statistically
significant for evaluating the pleural and mediastinal surface and segmental bronchi
only (p < 0.05). Overall, the best image quality with least artifacts was seen with R100_NSA2
sequence. The objective assessment showed no statistically significant difference
between the three sequences (p > 0.05). Interobserver agreement for different findings was substantial to almost
perfect for R100_NSA2 and R200_NSA1 sequences.
Conclusion
R100_NSA2 UTE sequence performed best for the evaluation of the different findings
and showed the best image quality.
Keywords
Abbreviations:
3D (three dimensional), CNR (contrast-to-noise ratio), CR (contrast ratio), CT (computed tomography), MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), NSA (number of signal averages), SD (standard deviation), SI (signal intensity), SNR (signal-to-noise ratio), UTE (Ultrashort echo-time)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 16, 2023
Accepted:
January 23,
2023
Received in revised form:
January 8,
2023
Received:
July 22,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Corrected ProofIdentification
Copyright
© 2023 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
