Fat quantification with IDEAL gradient echo imaging: correction of bias from T(1) and noise.

Quantification of hepatic steatosis is a significant unmet need for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). MRI is capable of separating water and fat signals in order to quantify fatty infiltration of the liver (hepatic steatosis). Unfortunately, fat signal has confounding T(1) effects and the nonzero mean noise in low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) magnitude images can lead to incorrect estimation of the true lipid percentage. In this study, the effects of bias from T(1) effects and image noise were investigated. An oil/water phantom with volume fat-fractions ranging linearly from 0% to 100% was designed and validated using a spoiled gradient echo (SPGR) sequence in combination with a chemical-shift based fat-water separation method known as iterative decomposition of water and fat with echo asymmetry and least squares estimation (IDEAL). We demonstrated two approaches to reduce the effects of T(1): small flip angle (flip angle) and dual flip angle methods. Both methods were shown to effectively minimize deviation of the measured fat-fraction from its true value. We also demonstrated two methods to reduce noise bias: magnitude discrimination and phase-constrained reconstruction. Both methods were shown to reduce this noise bias effectively from 15% to less than 1%.     

Noise analysis for 3‐point chemical shift‐based water‐fat separation with spectral modeling of fat

Purpose:

To model the theoretical signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) behavior of 3‐point chemical shift‐based water‐fat separation, using spectral modeling of fat, with experimental validation for spin‐echo and gradient‐echo imaging. The echo combination that achieves the best SNR performance for a given spectral model of fat was also investigated.

Materials and Methods:

Cramér‐Rao bound analysis was used to calculate the best possible SNR performance for a given echo combination. Experimental validation in a fat‐water phantom was performed and compared with theory. In vivo scans were performed to compare fat separation with and with out spectral modeling of fat.

Results:

Theoretical SNR calculations for methods that include spectral modeling of fat agree closely with experimental SNR measurements. Spectral modeling of fat more accurately separates fat and water signals, with only a slight decrease in the SNR performance of the water‐only image, although with a relatively large decrease in the fat SNR performance.

Conclusion:

The optimal echo combination that provides the best SNR performance for water using spectral modeling of fat is very similar to previous optimizations that modeled fat as a single peak. Therefore, the optimal echo spacing commonly used for single fat peak models is adequate for most applications that use spectral modeling of fat. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2010;32:493–500. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

外科临床研究方法学指引——IDEAL框架及指南介绍与解读

外科临床研究是临床实践重要组成部分。由于外科治疗具有侵袭性、复杂性、个体化、高度依赖操作者技能等特点,因此,其评估与药物治疗存在显著差异,但是仍然缺少相应的方法学框架和指南。IDEAL框架与指南［The Idea,Development, Exploration,Assessment,and Long-term Follow-up（IDEAL）Framework and Recommendations］旨在针对外科手术创新、有创性医疗器械和其他复杂治疗干预措施建立科学、严谨的评价路径,并根据不同的技术发展阶段对研究方法、报告规范等进行推荐。     

Spiral water-fat imaging with integrated off-resonance correction on a clinical scanner

Purpose

To integrate water‐fat–resolved spiral gradient‐echo imaging with off‐resonance correction into a clinical MR scanner and to evaluate its basic feasibility and performance.

Materials and Methods

Three‐point chemical shift imaging was implemented with forward and strongly T₂*‐weighted reverse spiral sampling and with off‐resonance correction after water–fat separation. It was applied in a volunteer study on single breathhold abdominal imaging, which included a brief comparison with Cartesian sampling.

Results

Water‐fat–resolved, off‐resonance–corrected forward and reverse three‐dimensional interleaved spiral imaging was found to be feasible on a clinical MR scanner with only minor changes to the existing data acquisition and reconstruction, and to provide good image quality. Three‐point chemical shift encoded data thus support both, water–fat separation and off‐resonance correction with high accuracy.

Conclusion

The combination of chemical shift encoding and appropriate postprocessing could pave the way for water‐fat–resolved spiral imaging in clinical applications. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2010;32:1262–1267. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Improved fat suppression using multipeak reconstruction for IDEAL chemical shift fat‐water separation: Application with fast spin echo imaging

Purpose

To evaluate and quantify improvements in the quality of fat suppression for fast spin‐echo imaging of the knee using multipeak fat spectral modeling and IDEAL fat‐water separation.

Materials and Methods

T₁‐weighted and T₂‐weighted fast spin‐echo sequences with IDEAL fat‐water separation and two frequency‐selective fat‐saturation methods (fat‐selective saturation and fat‐selective partial inversion) were performed on 10 knees of five asymptomatic volunteers. The IDEAL images were reconstructed using a conventional single‐peak method and precalibrated and self‐calibrated multipeak methods that more accurately model the NMR spectrum of fat. The signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) was measured in various tissues for all sequences. Student t‐tests were used to compare SNR values.

Results

Precalibrated and self‐calibrated multipeak IDEAL had significantly greater suppression of signal (P < 0.05) within subcutaneous fat and bone marrow than fat‐selective saturation, fat‐selective partial inversion, and single‐peak IDEAL for both T₁‐weighted and T₂‐weighted fast spin‐echo sequences. For T₁‐weighted fast spin‐echo sequences, the improvement in the suppression of signal within subcutaneous fat and bone marrow for multipeak IDEAL ranged between 65% when compared to fat‐selective partial inversion to 86% when compared to fat‐selectivesaturation. For T2‐weighted fast spin‐echo sequences, the improvement for multipeak IDEAL ranged between 21% when compared to fat‐selective partial inversion to 81% when compared to fat‐selective saturation.

Conclusion

Multipeak IDEAL fat‐water separation provides improved fat suppression for T₁‐weighted and T₂‐weighted fast spin‐echo imaging of the knee when compared to single‐peak IDEAL and two widely used frequency‐selected fat‐saturation methods. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2009;29:436–442. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

IDEAL序列在脊柱脂肪抑制中的应用

目的 比较IDEAL T2WI、FSE T2WI序列在脊柱脂肪抑制扫描中的应用价值.资料与方法 35例脊柱MRI检查患者(颈椎10例、胸椎8例、腰椎17例)同时采用IDEAL T2WI、FSE T2WI两种脂肪抑制序列扫描,对图像脂肪抑制质量进行主观评价分级评估并测量信噪比.结果 FSE T2WI脂肪抑制质量主观评价分级为颈椎( 1.30±0.48)级、胸椎(1.80±0.71)级、腰椎(2.30±0.69)级,而IDEAL T2WI序列颈、胸椎均为(3.00±0.00)级、腰椎为(2.80±0.56)级;FSE T2WI脂肪抑制序列信噪比平均值分别为颈( 8.73±4.66)、胸(11.33±9.27)、腰(6.81±10.15),IDEAL T2WI序列信噪比平均值分别为颈( 18.90±7.71)、胸(26.02±11.61)、腰(19.57±9.12),两序列信噪比差异有统计学意义(t=3.73、5.72、11.23,P＜0.05).结论 脊柱MRI脂肪抑制扫描IDEAL T2WI序列优于FSE T2WI序列,IDEAL T2WI序列能提供更均匀稳定的脂肪抑制效果,脊柱图像信噪比高,可清晰显示脊柱病变.