Brain magnetic resonance imaging at 3 Tesla using BLADE compared with standard rectilinear data sampling.
OBJECTIVE
We sought to evaluate Periodically Rotated Overlapping ParallEL Lines with Enhanced Reconstruction (PROPELLER; BLADE) data acquisition in comparison with standard k-space sampling techniques for axial and sagittal brain imaging at 3 T regarding imaging artifacts.


METHODS
Forty patients who gave consent were included in a prospective comparison of standard and PROPELLER (BLADE) k-space sampling techniques. All examinations were performed at 3 T with comparison of standard T2-weighted fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) to PROPELLER T2-weighted FLAIR in the axial image orientation and standard T1-weighted gradient echo to PROPELLER T1-weighted FLAIR in the sagittal image orientation. Imaging protocols were matched for spatial resolution, with data evaluation performed by 2 experienced neuroradiologists. Image data were compared regarding various image artifacts and overall image quality. Reader agreement was assessed by Cohen's kappa statistics.


RESULTS
PROPELLER T2-weighted axial data acquisition showed significantly less pulsation and Gibb's artifacts than the standard T2-weighted scan. Even without motion correction, the frequency of ghosting (motion) artifacts was substantially lower in the PROPELLER T2-weighted data and readers concordantly (kappa = 1) rated PROPELLER as better than or equal to the standard T2-weighted scan in the majority of cases (95%; P < 0.0001). In the comparison of sagittal T1-weighted data sets, readers showed only fair agreement (kappa = 0.24) and noted consistent wrap artifacts in PROPELLER T1-weighted FLAIR.


CONCLUSIONS
PROPELLER (BLADE) brain magnetic resonance imaging is also applicable at 3 T. In addition to minimizing motion artifacts, the PROPELLER acquisition scheme reduces other magnetic resonance artifacts that would otherwise degrade scan quality.
Wintersperger
Bernd J
BJ
Department of Clinical Radiology, University Hospitals-Grosshadern, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany. Bernd.Wintersperger@med.uni-muenchen.de
Runge
Val M
VM
Biswas
Jonmenjoy
J
Nelson
C Brett
CB
Stemmer
Alto
A
Simonetta
Alexander B
AB
Reiser
Maximilian F
MF
Naul
L G
LG
Schoenberg
Stefan O
SO
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016477:Artifacts; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies