A comparative quantitative analysis of magnetic susceptibility artifacts in echo planar and PROPELLER diffusion-weighted images

Abstract

In this study, the authors investigated whether periodically-rotated overlapping parallel lines with enhanced reconstruction (PROPELLER) diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) can remove magnetic susceptibility artifacts and compared apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values for PROPELLER DWI and the common echo planar (EP) DWI. Twenty patients that underwent brain MRI with a metal dental implant were selected. A 3.0T MR scanner was then used to obtain EP DWI, PROPELLER DWI, and corresponding apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps for a b-value of 0 and 1,000 s/mm(2). The frequencies of magnetic susceptibility artifacts in four parts of the brain (bilateral temporal lobes, pons, and orbit) were selected. In the ADC maps, we measured the ADC values of both sides of the temporal lobe and the pons. According to the study results, the frequency of magnetic susceptibility artifacts in PROPELLER DW images was lower than it was in EP DW images. In ADC maps, the ADC values of the bilateral temporal lobes and the pons were all higher in PROPELLER ADC maps than in EP ADC maps. Our findings show that when a high-field MRI machine is used, magnetic susceptibility artifacts can distort anatomical structures and produce high-intensity signals. Furthermore, our findings suggest that in many cases, PROPELLER DWI would be helpful in terms of achieving a correct diagnosis.