title: Diffusion weighted imaging: a comprehensive evaluation of a fast spin echo DWI sequence with BLADE (PROPELLER) k-space sampling at 3 T, using a 32-channel head coil in acute brain ischemia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and diagnostic quality of diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) using a fast spin echo (FSE) sequence with BLADE k-space trajectory at 3 T in combination with a 32-channel head coil. The scan was compared with a standard spin echo (SE) echo-planar imaging (EPI) DWI and a high resolution SE EPI DWI sequence.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fourteen patients with acute brain ischemia were included in this Institutional Review Board approved study. All patients were evaluated with 3 different image sequences, using a 3 T scanner and a 32-channel head coil: (a) a standard SE EPI DWI (matrix size 192 x 192), (b) a high resolution SE EPI DWI (matrix size of 256 x 256) and (c) a FSE DWI BLADE (matrix size 192 x 192). The SNR of the 3 scans was compared in 10 healthy volunteers by a paired student t test. Image quality was evaluated with 4 dedicated questions in a blinded read: (1) The scans were ranked in terms of bulk susceptibility artifact. (2) The scan preference for diagnosis of any diffusion abnormality that might occur and (3) the preference for visualization of the diffusion abnormality actually present was determined. (4) The influence of bulk susceptibility on image evaluation for the diffusion abnormality present was assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For visualization of the diffusion abnormality present, BLADE DWI was the scan sequence preferred most by both readers (reader 1: 41.7%, reader 2: 35.7%). For visualization of any diffusion abnormality present, BLADE DWI was the preferred scan in 13 of 14 cases for reader 1 (93%) and in 11 of 14 cases for reader 2 (78.6%). No high resolution SE EPI DWI scan was rated best by reader 1. Reader 2 rated the high resolution SE EPI DWI scan superior in only 1 of 56 judgments. The standard EPI DWI sequence (21.8 +/- 5.3) had in comparison to the high resolution EPI DWI (11.9 +/- 2.6) and the BLADE DWI scans (11.3 +/- 3.8) significantly higher SNR mean values.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our preliminary data demonstrates the feasibility of a FSE EPI DWI scan with radial-like k-space sampling, using a 32-channel coil at 3 T in acute brain ischemia. The BLADE DWI was the preferred scan for the detection of acute diffusion abnormalities because of the lack of bulk susceptibility artifacts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Scott and White Clinic and Hospital, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, Temple, Texas, USA. ulrike.attenberger@medma.uni-heidelberg.de
authors.forename: Ulrike I
authors.initials: UI
authors.lastname: Attenberger
authors.forename: Val M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Runge
authors.forename: Alto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stemmer
authors.forename: Kenneth D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: L Gill
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Naul
authors.forename: Henrik J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Michaely
authors.forename: Stefan O
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Schoenberg
authors.forename: Maximilian F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Reiser
authors.forename: Bernd J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Wintersperger
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005260:Female; D006257:Head / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018401:Sample Size; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*