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Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine

Published in:

07-11-2023 | Research Article

Cranial bone imaging using ultrashort echo-time bone-selective MRI as an alternative to gradient-echo based “black-bone” techniques

Authors: Nada Kamona, Brandon C. Jones, Hyunyeol Lee, Hee Kwon Song, Chamith S. Rajapakse, Connor S. Wagner, Scott P. Bartlett, Felix W. Wehrli

Published in: Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine | Issue 1/2024

Abstract

Objectives

CT is the clinical standard for surgical planning of craniofacial abnormalities in pediatric patients. This study evaluated three MRI cranial bone imaging techniques for their strengths and limitations as a radiation-free alternative to CT.

Methods

Ten healthy adults were scanned at 3 T with three MRI sequences: dual-radiofrequency and dual-echo ultrashort echo time sequence (DURANDE), zero echo time (ZTE), and gradient-echo (GRE). DURANDE bright-bone images were generated by exploiting bone signal intensity dependence on RF pulse duration and echo time, while ZTE bright-bone images were obtained via logarithmic inversion. Three skull segmentations were derived, and the overlap of the binary masks was quantified using dice similarity coefficient. Craniometric distances were measured, and their agreement was quantified.

Results

There was good overlap of the three masks and excellent agreement among craniometric distances. DURANDE and ZTE showed superior air-bone contrast (i.e., sinuses) and soft-tissue suppression compared to GRE.

Discussions

ZTE has low levels of acoustic noise, however, ZTE images had lower contrast near facial bones (e.g., zygomatic) and require effective bias-field correction to separate bone from air and soft-tissue. DURANDE utilizes a dual-echo subtraction post-processing approach to yield bone-specific images, but the sequence is not currently manufacturer-supported and requires scanner-specific gradient-delay corrections.

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Title: Cranial bone imaging using ultrashort echo-time bone-selective MRI as an alternative to gradient-echo based “black-bone” techniques
Authors: Nada Kamona
Brandon C. Jones
Hyunyeol Lee
Hee Kwon Song
Chamith S. Rajapakse
Connor S. Wagner
Scott P. Bartlett
Felix W. Wehrli
Publication date: 07-11-2023
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Published in: Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine / Issue 1/2024
Print ISSN: 0968-5243
Electronic ISSN: 1352-8661
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10334-023-01125-8

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Cranial bone imaging using ultrashort echo-time bone-selective MRI as an alternative to gradient-echo based “black-bone” techniques

Abstract

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussions

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussions

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