The impact of field strength on image quality in MRI

As clinical MRI has evolved, there have been numerous arguments for the use of different field strengths. Those favoring high magnetic field (1.5 T and above) include higher signal-to-noise ratio, capability for MR spectroscopy, and other forms of functional MRI, high speed imaging, and high resolution imaging. However, cost remains a significant limitation to the wider dissemination of high field MRI. There are definite cost advantages (capital, operating, siting) to the use of lower field MRI. Much debate has occurred over the past decade regarding the relative diagnostic benefits of high field MRI versus lower field MRI, but few randomized, controlled clinical trials have compared diagnostic accuracy of MRI at various field strengths. In this article, we review the physical principles of the field strength dependence of MRI in relation to image quality. The assessment of the importance of field strength in MR is incomplete without some analysis of diagnostic accuracy versus field strength. Such analysis is difficult to accomplish in an unbiased manner. The use of receiver-operator-characteristic (ROC) analysis is probably the best available method to measure diagnostic accuracy of various imaging methods without bias. An ROC study of diagnostic accuracy of 0.5 T versus 1.5 T MRI, examining several common clinical categories, has recently been conducted at our institution. Results from this study demonstrate diagnostic equivalence between these two field strengths in at least two common clinical disease categories (MS and internal derangement of the knee). These results are discussed and related to results from previous field strength studies.