Assessment of the Impact of Turbo Factor on Image Quality and Tissue Volumetrics in Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging Using the Three-Dimensional T1-Weighted (3D T1W) Sequence.
Eric Naab Manson, Stephen Inkoom, Abdul Nashirudeen Mumuni, Issahaku Shirazu, Adolf Kofi Awua
{"title":"Assessment of the Impact of Turbo Factor on Image Quality and Tissue Volumetrics in Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging Using the Three-Dimensional T1-Weighted (3D T1W) Sequence.","authors":"Eric Naab Manson, Stephen Inkoom, Abdul Nashirudeen Mumuni, Issahaku Shirazu, Adolf Kofi Awua","doi":"10.1155/2023/6304219","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The 3D T1W turbo field echo sequence is a standard imaging method for acquiring high-contrast images of the brain. However, the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) can be affected by the turbo factor, which could affect the delineation and segmentation of various structures in the brain and may consequently lead to misdiagnosis. This study is aimed at evaluating the effect of the turbo factor on image quality and volumetric measurement reproducibility in brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Brain images of five healthy volunteers with no history of neurological diseases were acquired on a 1.5 T MRI scanner with varying turbo factors of 50, 100, 150, 200, and 225. The images were processed and analyzed with FreeSurfer. The influence of the TFE factor on image quality and reproducibility of brain volume measurements was investigated. Image quality metrics assessed included the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of white matter (WM), CNR between gray matter/white matter (GM/WM) and gray matter/cerebrospinal fluid (GM/CSF), and Euler number (EN). Moreover, structural brain volume measurements of WM, GM, and CSF were conducted.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Turbo factor 200 produced the best SNR (median = 17.01) and GM/WM CNR (median = 2.29), but turbo factor 100 offered the most reproducible SNR (IQR = 2.72) and GM/WM CNR (IQR = 0.14). Turbo factor 50 had the worst and the least reproducible SNR, whereas turbo factor 225 had the worst and the least reproducible GM/WM CNR. Turbo factor 200 again had the best GM/CSF CNR but offered the least reproducible GM/CSF CNR. Turbo factor 225 had the best performance on EN (-21), while turbo factor 200 was next to the most reproducible turbo factor on EN (11). The results showed that turbo factor 200 had the least data acquisition time, in addition to superior performance on SNR, GM/WM CNR, GM/CSF CNR, and good reproducibility characteristics on EN. Both image quality metrics and volumetric measurements did not vary significantly (<i>p</i> > 0.05) with the range of turbo factors used in the study by one-way ANOVA analysis.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Since no significant differences were observed in the performance of the turbo factors in terms of image quality and volume of brain structure, turbo factor 200 with a 74% acquisition time reduction was found to be optimal for brain MR imaging at 1.5 T.</p>","PeriodicalId":47063,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Biomedical Imaging","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.3000,"publicationDate":"2023-11-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10665095/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Biomedical Imaging","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/6304219","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2023/1/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ENGINEERING, BIOMEDICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: The 3D T1W turbo field echo sequence is a standard imaging method for acquiring high-contrast images of the brain. However, the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) can be affected by the turbo factor, which could affect the delineation and segmentation of various structures in the brain and may consequently lead to misdiagnosis. This study is aimed at evaluating the effect of the turbo factor on image quality and volumetric measurement reproducibility in brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Methods: Brain images of five healthy volunteers with no history of neurological diseases were acquired on a 1.5 T MRI scanner with varying turbo factors of 50, 100, 150, 200, and 225. The images were processed and analyzed with FreeSurfer. The influence of the TFE factor on image quality and reproducibility of brain volume measurements was investigated. Image quality metrics assessed included the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of white matter (WM), CNR between gray matter/white matter (GM/WM) and gray matter/cerebrospinal fluid (GM/CSF), and Euler number (EN). Moreover, structural brain volume measurements of WM, GM, and CSF were conducted.
Results: Turbo factor 200 produced the best SNR (median = 17.01) and GM/WM CNR (median = 2.29), but turbo factor 100 offered the most reproducible SNR (IQR = 2.72) and GM/WM CNR (IQR = 0.14). Turbo factor 50 had the worst and the least reproducible SNR, whereas turbo factor 225 had the worst and the least reproducible GM/WM CNR. Turbo factor 200 again had the best GM/CSF CNR but offered the least reproducible GM/CSF CNR. Turbo factor 225 had the best performance on EN (-21), while turbo factor 200 was next to the most reproducible turbo factor on EN (11). The results showed that turbo factor 200 had the least data acquisition time, in addition to superior performance on SNR, GM/WM CNR, GM/CSF CNR, and good reproducibility characteristics on EN. Both image quality metrics and volumetric measurements did not vary significantly (p > 0.05) with the range of turbo factors used in the study by one-way ANOVA analysis.
Conclusion: Since no significant differences were observed in the performance of the turbo factors in terms of image quality and volume of brain structure, turbo factor 200 with a 74% acquisition time reduction was found to be optimal for brain MR imaging at 1.5 T.
期刊介绍:
The International Journal of Biomedical Imaging is managed by a board of editors comprising internationally renowned active researchers. The journal is freely accessible online and also offered for purchase in print format. It employs a web-based review system to ensure swift turnaround times while maintaining high standards. In addition to regular issues, special issues are organized by guest editors. The subject areas covered include (but are not limited to):
Digital radiography and tomosynthesis
X-ray computed tomography (CT)
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)
Positron emission tomography (PET)
Ultrasound imaging
Diffuse optical tomography, coherence, fluorescence, bioluminescence tomography, impedance tomography
Neutron imaging for biomedical applications
Magnetic and optical spectroscopy, and optical biopsy
Optical, electron, scanning tunneling/atomic force microscopy
Small animal imaging
Functional, cellular, and molecular imaging
Imaging assays for screening and molecular analysis
Microarray image analysis and bioinformatics
Emerging biomedical imaging techniques
Imaging modality fusion
Biomedical imaging instrumentation
Biomedical image processing, pattern recognition, and analysis
Biomedical image visualization, compression, transmission, and storage
Imaging and modeling related to systems biology and systems biomedicine
Applied mathematics, applied physics, and chemistry related to biomedical imaging
Grid-enabling technology for biomedical imaging and informatics