Open AccessBenefits and Challenges in Bowel MR Imaging at 3.0 T
Author(s) -
Karin Herrmann,
Raj Mohan Paspulati,
Thomas C. Lauenstein,
Maximilian Reiser
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
topics in magnetic resonance imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.547
H-Index - 53
eISSN - 1536-1004
pISSN - 0899-3459
DOI - 10.1097/rmr.0b013e31822a3294
Subject(s) - magnetic resonance imaging , image quality , rectum , bowel preparation , nuclear magnetic resonance , contrast (vision) , signal to noise ratio (imaging) , radiology , physics , medicine , computer science , artificial intelligence , image (mathematics) , colorectal cancer , optics , surgery , colonoscopy , cancer
Abdominal imaging at 3.0 T has shown to be challenging because of a number of artifacts and effects related to the physics at higher field strength. For bowel imaging at 3.0 T, artifacts due to magnetic field inhomogeneities, standing waves, increased susceptibility, and greater chemical shift effects are of particular concern because they are likely to affect the assessment of relevant structures and counterbalance the benefits of higher signal-to-noise ratio. Regarding small- and large-bowel magnetic resonance imaging, the benefits of higher field strengths translate mainly in better contrast-to-noise ratio of contrast-enhanced T1-weighted gradient echo and T2-weighted imaging, whereas steady-state free precession sequences seem to suffer from serious degradation of image quality. The present article summarizes the technical challenges in bowel imaging at 3.0 T, provides an overview of performance compared with 1.5 T in small- and large-bowel diseases including the rectum, and revises the current literature.