Rationale and objectives

In magnetic resonance (MR) fetal imaging, the image quality acquired by the traditional Cartesian-sampled breath-hold T1-weighted (T1W) sequence may be degraded by motion artifacts arising from both mother and fetus. The radial VIBE sequence is reported to be a viable alternative to conventional Cartesian acquisition for both pediatric and adult MR, yielding better image quality. This study evaluated the role of radial VIBE in fetal MR imaging and compared its image quality and motion artifacts with those of the Cartesian T1W sequence.

Materials and methods

We included 246 pregnant women with 50 lesions on 1.5-T MR imaging. Image quality and lesion conspicuity were evaluated by two radiologists, blinded to the acquisition schemes used, using a five-point scale, where a higher score indicated a better trajectory method. Mixed-model analysis of variance and interobserver variability assessment were performed.

Results

The radial VIBE sequence showed a significantly better performance than conventional T1W imaging in the head and neck, fetal body, and placenta region: 3.92 ± 0.88 vs 3 ± 0.74, p < 0.001, 3.8 ± 0.94 vs 3.15 ± 0.87, p < 0.001, and 4.17 ± 0.63 vs 3.12 ± 0.72, p < 0.001, respectively. Additionally, fewer motion artifacts were observed in all regions with the radial VIBE sequence (p < 0.01). Of 50 lesions, 49 presented better lesion conspicuity on radial VIBE images than on T1W images (4.34 ± 0.91 vs 3.48 ± 1.46, p < 0.001).

Conclusion

For fetal imaging, the radial VIBE sequences yielded better image quality and lesion conspicuity, with fewer motion artifacts, than conventional breath-hold Cartesian-sampled T1W sequences.

中文翻译：

---

自由呼吸的T1加权3D放射状VIBE在各种异常情况下进行胎儿MRI的可行性。

基本原理和目标

在磁共振（MR）胎儿成像中，由传统的笛卡尔采样屏气T1加权（T1W）序列获取的图像质量可能会因母亲和胎儿产生的运动伪影而降低。据报道，对于儿童和成人MR，径向VIBE序列是常规笛卡尔采集的可行替代方案，可产生更好的图像质量。这项研究评估了径向VIBE在胎儿MR成像中的作用，并将其图像质量和运动伪影与笛卡尔T1W序列进行了比较。

材料和方法

我们在1.5-T MR成像中纳入了246名有50个病变的孕妇。两位放射线医师使用五点量表评估了图像质量和病变的显眼性，不知道所使用的采集方案，其中得分较高表示轨迹方法更好。进行了混合模型方差分析和观察者间变异性评估。

结果

径向VIBE序列在头部，颈部，胎儿身体和胎盘区域显示出比常规T1W显着更好的性能：3.92±0.88 vs 3±0.74，p <0.001，3.8±0.94 vs 3.15±0.87，p <0.001，和4.17±0.63和3.12±0.72，p <0.001。此外，在径向VIBE序列的所有区域中均观察到较少的运动伪影（p <0.01）。在50个病变中，有49个在放射状VIBE图像上表现出比T1W图像更好的病变显着性（4.34±0.91对3.48±1.46，p <0.001）。

结论

对于胎儿成像，与传统的屏气笛卡尔采样的T1W序列相比，径向VIBE序列产生更好的图像质量和病变明显性，运动伪影更少。