Investigation of imaging conditions for dental MRI using 3T-MRI system with microscopy coil in clinical situation.

Abstract

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been employed to obtain high-resolution images of dental structures using intraoral and dedicated coils; however, reports on microscopy coils are limited. Furthermore, no reports have detailed the imaging conditions for the clinical application of T₁-weighted (T₁W), T₂-weighted (T₂W), and proton density-weighted (PDW) sequences in dental MRI. This study investigated the optimal imaging conditions for clinical dental MRI. Phantoms simulating the dental pulp and bone marrow were constructed, and imaging was performed using a 3T-MRI system and a microscopy coil with varying T₁W, T₂W, and PDW parameters to determine the trends in change. Subsequently, we imaged the left mandibular first molar region of 21 healthy volunteers using clinically feasible parameters. Tooth visibility was assessed for the T₁W, T₂W, and PDW images, while contrast ratio (CR) and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) were calculated and statistically analyzed. Results showed that PDW significantly outperformed T₁W and T₂W in terms of tooth visibility, CR, and SNR. Under the specified imaging conditions, PDW was optimal for tooth and periodontal tissue morphology evaluation. A statistically significant difference in CR and tooth visibility evaluation was observed between T₁W and T₂W in the dental pulp. This statistically significant difference suggested that T₂W can be used to evaluate the dental pulp, and T₁W can be used to evaluate the inferior alveolar nerve and bone marrow properties.