MR imaging of the internal auditory canal and inner ear at 3T: comparison between 3D driven equilibrium and 3D balanced fast field echo sequences.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the use of 3D driven equilibrium (DRIVE) imaging with 3D balanced fast field echo (bFFE) imaging in the assessment of the anatomic structures of the internal auditory canal (IAC) and inner ear at 3 Tesla (T).


METHODS
Thirty ears of 15 subjects (7 men and 8 women; age range, 22-71 years; average age, 50 years) without evidence of ear problems were examined on a whole-body 3T MR scanner with both 3D DRIVE and 3D bFFE sequences by using an 8-channel sensitivity encoding (SENSE) head coil. Two neuroradiologists reviewed both MR images with particular attention to the visibility of the anatomic structures, including four branches of the cranial nerves within the IAC, anatomic structures of the cochlea, vestibule, and three semicircular canals.


RESULTS
Although both techniques provided images of relatively good quality, the 3D DRIVE sequence was somewhat superior to the 3D bFFE sequence. The discrepancies were more prominent for the basal turn of the cochlea, vestibule, and all semicircular canals, and were thought to be attributed to the presence of greater magnetic susceptibility artifacts inherent to gradient-echo techniques such as bFFE.


CONCLUSIONS
Because of higher image quality and less susceptibility artifacts, we highly recommend the employment of 3D DRIVE imaging as the MR imaging choice for the IAC and inner ear.
Department of Radiology and Center for Imaging Science, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Jun Soo
JS
Byun
Hyung Jin
HJ
Kim
Yoo Jeong
YJ
Yim
Sung Tae
ST
Kim
Pyoung
P
Jeon
Keon Ha
KH
Kim
Sam Soo
SS
Kim
Yong Hwan
YH
Jeon
Jiwon
J
Lee
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003051:Cochlea / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D007758:Ear, Inner / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012665:Semicircular Canals / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D014722:Vestibule, Labyrinth / Q000033:anatomy & histology