Department of Radiology, National Hospital Organization Osaka National Hospital, 2-1-14 Hoenzaka, Chuo-ku, Osaka, 540-0006, Japan.
Eur Radiol. 2020 Jun;30(6):3245-3253. doi: 10.1007/s00330-020-06686-z. Epub 2020 Feb 16.
This study was conducted in order to evaluate the feasibility of a newly developed half-Fourier acquisition single-shot turbo spin echo (HASTE) sequence for T2-weighted MRI of the female pelvis, in which scanning and post-processing filtering techniques were optimized to minimize blurring and the resultant reduction in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was compensated by signal averaging of multiple excitations (multi-NEX), and to compare its image quality with that of a conventional turbo spin echo (TSE) sequence.
Fifty females with gynecological disease were prospectively enrolled. They underwent pelvic MRI including sagittal T2-weighted imaging obtained with multi-NEX HASTE (mHASTE) and TSE with acquisition times of 1 m 9 s and 3 m 26 s, respectively. At the prospective reading, mHASTE was reviewed first, and any changes in the image interpretation detected during the subsequent TSE reading were recorded. The SNR and tissue contrast were quantitatively measured. Two radiologists independently assessed tissue conspicuity and overall image quality considering noise, artifacts, and blurring, and visual grading characteristics (VGC) analysis was performed to compare the two sequences.
Adding TSE to mHASTE did not change image interpretations in any case. mHASTE produced an equivalent SNR and significantly higher contrast between the myometrium and junctional zone (p < 0.05) compared with TSE. The area under the VGC curve (AUC) showed that the conspicuity of the uterus, ovaries, and lesions and the overall image quality were significantly higher on mHASTE than on TSE for both readers (AUC, 0.740-0.880; p < 0.01).
mHASTE is a feasible option for T2-weighted MRI of the female pelvis, as it allows faster and higher-quality image acquisition than conventional TSE.
• High-quality T2-weighted imaging is essential for magnetic resonance imaging of the female pelvis. • A new HASTE sequence was developed, in which a parallel imaging technique, a wide bandwidth, and a post-processing filter were used to minimize blurring, and the resultant reduction in the signal-to-noise ratio was compensated using signal averaging of multiple excitations (multi-NEX). • Multi-NEX HASTE allows fast and high-quality T2-weighted image acquisition.
本研究旨在评估一种新开发的半傅里叶采集单次激发 turbo 自旋回波（HASTE）序列用于女性盆腔 T2 加权 MRI 的可行性，该序列在扫描和后处理滤波技术方面进行了优化，以最小化模糊，通过多次激发（多 NEX）的信号平均来补偿由此导致的信噪比（SNR）降低，并比较其与传统 turbo 自旋回波（TSE）序列的图像质量。
前瞻性纳入 50 名患有妇科疾病的女性。对其进行包括矢状面 T2 加权成像在内的盆腔 MRI 检查，使用多 NEX HASTE（mHASTE）和 TSE，采集时间分别为 1m9s 和 3m26s。在前瞻性阅读时，首先回顾 mHASTE，并记录在随后的 TSE 阅读过程中发现的任何图像解释变化。定量测量 SNR 和组织对比度。两名放射科医生独立评估组织清晰度和整体图像质量，考虑噪声、伪影和模糊，并进行视觉分级特征（VGC）分析以比较两种序列。
在任何情况下，添加 TSE 都不会改变 mHASTE 的图像解释。与 TSE 相比，mHASTE 产生了等效的 SNR，并显著提高了子宫肌层和交界区之间的对比度（p<0.05）。VGC 曲线下面积（AUC）显示，两名读者的子宫、卵巢和病变的清晰度以及整体图像质量在 mHASTE 上均显著高于 TSE（AUC，0.740-0.880；p<0.01）。
mHASTE 是一种可行的女性盆腔 T2 加权 MRI 选择，因为它允许比传统 TSE 更快和更高质量的图像采集。
高质量的 T2 加权成像对于女性盆腔磁共振成像至关重要。
开发了一种新的 HASTE 序列，该序列使用并行成像技术、宽带宽和后处理滤波器来最小化模糊，通过多次激发（多 NEX）的信号平均来补偿由此导致的信噪比降低。
多 NEX HASTE 允许快速和高质量的 T2 加权图像采集。
