Reduction of truncation artifacts in rapid 3D articular cartilage imaging

PURPOSE: To reduce Gibbs ringing artifact in three-dimensional (3D) articular knee cartilage imaging with linear prediction (LP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A reconstruction method using LP in 3D was applied to truncated data sets of six healthy knees. The technique first linearizes the data before applying the prediction algorithm. Three radiologists blindly reviewed and ranked images of the full, truncated, and predicted data sets. Statistical analysis of the radiologists' reviews was performed for image quality, clinical acceptability of the images, and equivalence with the gold standard. RESULTS: LP applied to 3D knee cartilage imaging allows for 40% decreased scan time while providing image quality with statistical equivalence to a full data set. CONCLUSION: 3D spoiled gradient echo imaging (SPGR) knee cartilage imaging requires significant scan time. This 40% reduction in scan time will allow such scans to be more feasible without sacrificing clinical acceptability.