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In vivo high‐resolution magnetic resonance skin imaging at 1.5 T and 3 T
Author(s) -
Barral Joëlle K.,
Bangerter Neal K.,
Hu Bob S.,
Nishimura Dwight G.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
magnetic resonance in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.696
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1522-2594
pISSN - 0740-3194
DOI - 10.1002/mrm.22271
Subject(s) - magnetic resonance imaging , nuclear magnetic resonance , resolution (logic) , in vivo , high resolution , preclinical imaging , physics , medicine , radiology , computer science , biology , geology , artificial intelligence , remote sensing , microbiology and biotechnology
As a noninvasive modality, MR is attractive for in vivo skin imaging. Its unique soft tissue contrast makes it an ideal imaging modality to study the skin water content and to resolve the different skin layers. In this work, the challenges of in vivo high‐resolution skin imaging are addressed. Three 3D Cartesian sequences are customized to achieve high‐resolution imaging and their respective performance is evaluated. The balanced steady‐state free precession (bSSFP) and gradient echo (GRE) sequences are fast but can be sensitive to off‐resonance artifacts. The fast large‐angle spin echo (FLASE) sequence provides a sharp depiction of the hypodermis structures but results in more specific absorption rate (SAR). The effect of increasing the field strength is assessed. As compared to 1.5 T, signal‐to‐noise ratio at 3 T slightly increases in the hypodermis and almost doubles in the dermis. The need for fat/water separation is acknowledged and a solution using an interleaved three‐point Dixon method and an iterative reconstruction is shown to be effective. The effects of motion are analyzed and two techniques to prevent motion and correct for it are evaluated. Images with 117 × 117 × 500 μm 3 resolution are obtained in imaging times under 6 min. Magn Reson Med, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.