Metallic residues as a source of artifacts in magnetic resonance imaging of the temporomandibular joint.
OBJECTIVE
To establish the source of metallic artifacts on postoperative MRI of the temporomandibular joint after arthroplasty.


METHODS
An experiment was carried out to evaluate MR artifacts which were thought to have been caused by minute metallic particles deposited at surgery. Four types of cutting instruments were used to cut an extracted tooth: a diamond bur attached to a dental air turbine handpiece, a steel bur and bone bur attached to a dental micromotor handpiece and a bone file. The tooth fragments were collected in plastic centrifuge tubes in water. These samples were evaluated with six MR sequences.


RESULTS
MR artifacts were clearly demonstrated in samples using the bone bur and the bone file but not the diamond and steel burs.


CONCLUSIONS
The artifacts seen on postoperative MRI were derived from minute metal particles from the bone bur or file used for condylar arthroplasty. Metal artifacts should be considered when interpreting postoperative MR images.
Tetsumura
A
A
Department of Dental Radiology and Radiation Research, Faculty of Dentistry, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan.
Honda
E
E
Sasaki
T
T
Kino
K
K
D000328:Adult; D016477:Artifacts; D003762:Dental Instruments; D018130:Diamond; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D019647:Oral Surgical Procedures / Q000295:instrumentation*; D013193:Stainless Steel; D013704:Temporomandibular Joint / Q000473:pathology*; D013705:Temporomandibular Joint Disorders / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery
D013193:Stainless Steel; D018130:Diamond