Application of a three-point method for water-fat MR imaging in children

Effective fat suppression is desirable in clinical magnetic resonance imaging. Conventional frequency selective fat suppression is dependent on accurate prescan shimming and is subject to artifacts due to magnetic field inhomogeneity. Quadrature three-point water-fat imaging with direct phase encoding is an alternative technique for fat suppression that has been previously described in adult volunteers and patients.

To evaluate the use of three-point water-fat imaging with direct phase encoding for fat-suppressed MR scans in children.

Sixty-two three-point water-fat imaging studies were performed in 55 children 2 months to 18 years old. T 1-weighted fat-suppressed (water) images from this sequence were compared with frequency selective fat-suppressed images obtained in 15 patients. The reliability and subjective quality of the sequence were assessed in the remaining 47 cases.

High-quality fat suppression was achieved in all anatomic sites studied, even where frequency selective fat-suppression failed due to magnetic susceptibility artifact. The three-point water-fat sequence was visually preferred to the frequency selective fat saturation technique in 15/15 cases.

Three-point water-fat imaging has replaced the conventional frequency selective technique for fat suppression on T 1-weighted MR imaging at our institution.