Fourier decomposition pulmonary MRI using a variable flip angle balanced steady-state free precession technique

Phase-cycled balanced SSFP imaging for non-contrast-enhanced functional lung imaging

PURPOSE

To introduce phase-cycled balanced SSFP (bSSFP) acquisition as an alternative in Fourier decomposition MRI for improved robustness against field inhomogeneities.

METHODS

Series 2D dynamic lung images were acquired in 5 healthy volunteers at 1.5 T and 3 T using bSSFP sequence with multiple RF phase increments and compared with conventional single RF phase increment acquisitions. The approach was evaluated based on functional map homogeneity analysis, while ensuring image and functional map quality by means of SNR and contrast-to-noise ratio analyses.

RESULTS

At both field strengths, functional maps obtained with phase-cycled acquisitions displayed improved robustness against local signal losses compared with single-phase acquisitions. The coefficient of variation (mean ± SD, across volunteers) measured in the ventilation maps resulted in 29.7 ± 2.6 at 1.5 T and 37.5 ± 3.1 at 3 T for phase-cycled acquisitions, compared with 39.9 ± 5.2 at 1.5 T and 49.5 ± 3.7 at 3 T for single-phase acquisitions, indicating a significant improvement ( p < 0.05 $$ p<0.05 $$ ) in ventilation map homogeneity.

CONCLUSIONS

Phase-cycled bSSFP acquisitions improve robustness against field inhomogeneity artifacts and significantly improve ventilation map homogeneity at both field strengths. As such, phase-cycled bSSFP may serve as a robust alternative in lung function assessments.

Proton MRI of the Lung: How to Tame Scarce Protons and Fast Signal Decay

Pulmonary proton MRI techniques offer the unique possibility of assessing lung function and structure without the requirement for hyperpolarization or dedicated hardware, which is mandatory for multinuclear acquisition. Five popular approaches are presented and discussed in this review: 1) oxygen enhanced (OE)-MRI; 2) arterial spin labeling (ASL); 3) Fourier decomposition (FD) MRI and other related methods including self-gated noncontrast-enhanced functional lung (SENCEFUL) MR and phase-resolved functional lung (PREFUL) imaging; 4) dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI; and 5) ultrashort TE (UTE) MRI. While DCE MRI is the most established and well-studied perfusion measurement, FD MRI offers a free-breathing test without any contrast agent and is predestined for application in patients with renal failure or with low compliance. Additionally, FD MRI and related methods like PREFUL and SENCEFUL can act as an ionizing radiation-free V/Q scan, since ventilation and perfusion information is acquired simultaneously during one scan. For OE-MRI, different concentrations of oxygen are applied via a facemask to assess the regional change in T₁ , which is caused by the paramagnetic property of oxygen. Since this change is governed by a combination of ventilation, diffusion, and perfusion, a compound functional measurement can be achieved with OE-MRI. The known problem of fast T₂ * decay of the lung parenchyma leading to a low signal-to-noise ratio is bypassed by the UTE acquisition strategy. Computed tomography (CT)-like images allow the assessment of lung structure with high spatial resolution without ionizing radiation. Despite these different branches of proton MRI, common trends are evident among pulmonary proton MRI: 1) free-breathing acquisition with self-gating; 2) application of UTE to preserve a stronger parenchymal signal; and 3) transition from 2D to 3D acquisition. On that note, there is a visible convergence of the different methods and it is not difficult to imagine that future methods will combine different aspects of the presented methods.

Pulmonary fibrosis: tissue characterization using late-enhanced MRI compared with unenhanced anatomic high-resolution CT

PURPOSE

We aimed to prospectively evaluate anatomic chest computed tomography (CT) with tissue characterization late gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the evaluation of pulmonary fibrosis (PF).

METHODS

Twenty patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and twelve control patients underwent late-enhanced MRI and high-resolution CT. Tissue characterization of PF was depicted using a segmented inversion-recovery turbo low-angle shot MRI sequence. Pulmonary arterial blood pool nulling was achieved by nulling main pulmonary artery signal. Images were read in random order by a blinded reader for presence and extent of overall PF (reticulation and honeycombing) at five anatomic levels. Overall extent of IPF was estimated to the nearest 5% as well as an evaluation of the ratios of IPF made up of reticulation and honeycombing. Overall grade of severity was dependent on the extent of reticulation and honeycombing.

RESULTS

No control patient exhibited contrast enhancement on lung late-enhanced MRI. All IPF patients were identified with late-enhanced MRI. Mean signal intensity of the late-enhanced fibrotic lung was 31.8±10.6 vs. 10.5±1.6 for normal lung regions, P < 0.001, resulting in a percent elevation in signal intensity from PF of 204.8%±90.6 compared with the signal intensity of normal lung. The mean contrast-to-noise ratio was 22.8±10.7. Late-enhanced MRI correlated significantly with chest CT for the extent of PF (R=0.78, P = 0.001) but not for reticulation, honeycombing, or coarseness of reticulation or honeycombing.

CONCLUSION

Tissue characterization of IPF is possible using inversion recovery sequence thoracic MRI.