Common artifacts encountered in thoracic magnetic resonance imaging: recognition, derivation, and solutions.

The article discusses the many types of thoracic magnetic resonance imaging artifacts, their derivations, and their current solutions. Magnetic resonance imaging artifacts of the thorax can be divided into two major categories. First, there are machine-related artifacts related to the machine's hardware: the intrinsic magnetic field, chemical shift, magnetic susceptibility, radio frequency leaks, metal artifacts, B1-homogeneity, gradient coils, truncation, aliasing, zipper artifacts, artifacts related to the surface coil profiles, pulse profiles, and crosstalk. Second, there are artifacts related to motion: voluntary patient motion, involuntary motion, and physiologic motions. Each one of these artifacts, and their solutions, will be discussed.