Radiology, Vol 196, 551-555, Copyright © 1995 by Radiological Society of North America

ARTICLES

Musculoskeletal MR imaging at 4 T and at 1.5 T: comparison of relaxation times and image contrast

SH Duewell, TL Ceckler, K Ong, H Wen, FA Jaffer, SA Chesnick and RS Balaban
Laboratory of Cardiac Energetics, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the relaxation time-based contrast between the main tissues of the musculoskeletal system as measured in the human knee with magnetic resonance imaging at 4 T and 1.5 T. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Five volunteers underwent 4-T and 1.5-T imaging. Inversion- recovery series were used to measure T1 values, and T2 values were measured with a spin-echo sequence. RESULTS: T1 values increased in all tissues with 4-T imaging. Values increased in muscle from 1 to 1.8 seconds, in fat from 0.3 to 0.4 seconds, and in cartilage from 0.8 to 1.5 seconds. T2 values were 10%-20% shorter in all tissues at 4 T. CONCLUSION: Advantages of 4-T imaging compared with 1.5-T imaging include a higher signal-to-noise ratio and an improved signal difference-to-noise ratio. However, any improvement in signal-to-noise ratio at high field strengths can partially be reduced by the increase in the T1 value. The slightly shorter T2 values at 4 T do not affect image contrast.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. K. Kuhl, F. Traber, J. Gieseke, W. Drahanowsky, N. Morakkabati-Spitz, W. Willinek, M. von Falkenhausen, C. Manka, and H. H. Schild Whole-Body High-Field-Strength (3.0-T) MR Imaging in Clinical Practice * Part II. Technical Considerations and Clinical Applications Radiology, April 1, 2008; 247(1): 16 - 35. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. K. Kuhl, F. Traber, and H. H. Schild Whole-Body High-Field-Strength (3.0-T) MR Imaging in Clinical Practice * Part I. Technical Considerations and Clinical Applications Radiology, March 1, 2008; 246(3): 675 - 696. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M.-H. Cui, J.-H. Hwang, V. Tomuta, Z. Dong, and D. T. Stein Cross contamination of intramyocellular lipid signals through loss of bulk magnetic susceptibility effect differences in human muscle using 1H-MRSI at 4 T J Appl Physiol, October 1, 2007; 103(4): 1290 - 1298. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				V. S. Lee, E. M. Hecht, B. Taouli, Q. Chen, K. Prince, and N. Oesingmann Body and Cardiovascular MR Imaging at 3.0 T Radiology, September 1, 2007; 244(3): 692 - 705. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. E. Gold, B. Suh, A. Sawyer-Glover, and C. Beaulieu Musculoskeletal MRI at 3.0 T: Initial Clinical Experience Am. J. Roentgenol., November 1, 2004; 183(5): 1479 - 1486. [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. E. Gold, E. Han, J. Stainsby, G. Wright, J. Brittain, and C. Beaulieu Musculoskeletal MRI at 3.0 T: Relaxation Times and Image Contrast Am. J. Roentgenol., August 1, 2004; 183(2): 343 - 351. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Watrin, J. P. B. Ruaud, P. T. A. Olivier, N. C. Guingamp, P. D. Gonord, P. A. Netter, A. G. Blum, G. M. Guillot, P. M. Gillet, and D. H. J. Loeuille T2 Mapping of Rat Patellar Cartilage Radiology, May 1, 2001; 219(2): 395 - 402. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				J.-H. Hwang, J. W. Pan, S. Heydari, H. P. Hetherington, and D. T. Stein Regional differences in intramyocellular lipids in humans observed by in vivo 1H-MR spectroscopic imaging J Appl Physiol, April 1, 2001; 90(4): 1267 - 1274. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. J. Mosher, B. J. Dardzinski, and M. B. Smith Human Articular Cartilage: Influence of Aging and Early Symptomatic Degeneration on the Spatial Variation of T2-Preliminary Findings at 3 T1 Radiology, January 1, 2000; 214(1): 259 - 266. [Abstract] [Full Text]