title: Elimination of motion, pulsatile flow and cross-talk artifacts using blade sequences in lumbar spine MR imaging.
abstract: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the ability of T2 turbo spin echo (TSE) axial and sagittal BLADE sequences in reducing or even eliminating motion, pulsatile flow and cross-talk artifacts in lumbar spine MRI examinations. Forty four patients, who had routinely undergone a lumbar spine examination, participated in the study. The following pairs of sequences with and without BLADE were compared: a) T2 TSE Sagittal (SAG) in thirty two cases, and b) T2 TSE Axial (AX) also in thirty two cases. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were performed based on measurements in different normal anatomical structures and examination of seven characteristics, respectively. The qualitative analysis was performed by experienced radiologists. Also, the presence of image motion, pulsatile flow and cross-talk artifacts was evaluated. Based on the results of the qualitative analysis for the different sequences and anatomical structures, the BLADE sequences were found to be significantly superior to the conventional ones in all the cases. The BLADE sequences eliminated the motion artifacts in all the cases. In our results, it was found that in the examined sequences (sagittal and axial) the differences between the BLADE and conventional sequences regarding the elimination of motion, pulsatile flow and cross-talk artifacts were statistically significant. In all the comparisons, the T2 TSE BLADE sequences were significantly superior to the corresponding conventional sequences regarding the classification of their image quality. In conclusion, this technique appears to be capable of potentially eliminating motion, pulsatile flow and cross-talk artifacts in lumbar spine MR images and producing high quality images in collaborative and non-collaborative patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Radiological Technologists, Technological Education Institute of Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Eleftherios
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lavdas
authors.forename: Panayiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mavroidis
authors.forename: Spiros
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kostopoulos
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Glotsos
authors.forename: Violeta
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Roka
authors.forename: Aristotle G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Koutsiaris
authors.forename: Georgios
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Batsikas
authors.forename: Georgios K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Sakkas
authors.forename: Antonios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tsagkalis
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Notaras
authors.forename: Sotirios
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stathakis
authors.forename: Nikos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Papanikolaou
authors.forename: Katerina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Vassiou
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000465:Algorithms; D016477:Artifacts; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000473:pathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009068:Movement; D011673:Pulsatile Flow; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D059629:Signal-To-Noise Ratio; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult