Quiet diffusion-weighted head scanning: Initial clinical evaluation in ischemic stroke patients at 1.5T

Area of Science:

• Radiology
• Medical Imaging
• Neuroimaging

Background:

• Acute stroke diagnosis relies heavily on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).
• Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) is crucial for detecting acute ischemic lesions.
• Acoustic noise from MRI sequences can be a patient comfort issue.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the image quality and diagnostic performance of single-shot echo-planar imaging DWI (ss-EPI-DWI) with quiet readout segmented EPI-DWI (q-DWI).
• To evaluate q-DWI as a potentially quieter alternative for acute stroke MRI.

Main Methods:

• Twenty-six acute stroke patients underwent 1.5T MRI with both ss-EPI-DWI and q-DWI sequences.
• Quantitative (SNR, CNR) and qualitative (lesion conspicuity, artifacts, image quality, diagnostic content) assessments were performed.
• q-DWI was evaluated in both regular and fast acquisition modes.

Main Results:

• q-DWI demonstrated significantly higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) compared to ss-EPI-DWI.
• No significant difference was observed in lesion conspicuity between the sequences.
• ss-EPI-DWI was rated higher for overall image quality and had fewer artifacts than q-DWI.
• Diagnostic content was deemed equivalent between ss-EPI-DWI and q-DWI by radiologists.

Conclusions:

• q-DWI is a diagnostically equivalent alternative to ss-EPI-DWI for acute stroke MRI.
• q-DWI offers improved SNR and CNR, with significantly reduced acoustic noise.
• Consider q-DWI when patient comfort due to acoustic burden is a priority.