Objective

The aim of this study was to develop and validate an MRI protocol based on a variable echo time (vTE) sensitive to the short T2* components of the sciatic nerve.

Materials and methods

15 healthy subjects (M/F: 9/6; age: 21–62) were scanned at 3T targeting the sciatic nerve at the thigh bilaterally, using a dual echo variable echo time (vTE) sequence (based on a spoiled gradient echo acquisition) with echo times of 0.98/5.37 ms. Apparent T2* (aT2*) values of the sciatic nerves were calculated with a mono-exponential fit and used for data comparison.

Results

There were no significant differences in aT2* related to side, sex, age, and BMI, even though small differences for side were reported. Good-to-excellent repeatability and reproducibility were found for geometry of ROIs (Dice indices: intra-rater 0.68–0.7; inter-rater 0.70–0.72) and the related aT2* measures (intra-inter reader ICC 0.95–0.97; 0.66–0.85) from two different operators. Side-related signal-to-noise-ratio non-significant differences were reported, while contrast-to-noise-ratio measures were excellent both for side and echo.

Discussion

Our study introduces a novel MR sequence sensitive to the short T2* components of the sciatic nerve and may be used for the study of peripheral nerve disorders.

中文翻译：

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用于检测坐骨神经短 T2* 成分的可变回波时间成像：一项验证研究。

客观的

本研究的目的是开发和验证基于对坐骨神经短 T2* 成分敏感的可变回波时间 (vTE) 的 MRI 方案。

材料和方法

使用双回波可变回波时间 (vTE) 序列（基于损坏的梯度回波采集）对 15 名健康受试者（男/女：9/6；年龄：21-62）进行 3T 扫描，针对大腿两侧的坐骨神经），回波时间为 0.98/5.37 毫秒。使用单指数拟合计算坐骨神经的表观 T2* (aT2*) 值并用于数据比较。

结果

尽管据报道侧面存在微小差异，但与侧面、性别、年龄和 BMI 相关的 aT2* 没有显着差异。ROI 的几何形状（Dice 指数：评估者内 0.68–0.7；评估者间 0.70–0.72）和相关的 aT2* 测量（阅读器间 ICC 0.95–0.97；0.66– 0.85）来自两个不同的运营商。据报道，与侧面相关的信噪比没有显着差异，而侧面和回声的对比噪声比测量结果都非常出色。

讨论

我们的研究引入了一种对坐骨神经短 T2* 成分敏感的新型 MR 序列，可用于周围神经疾病的研究。