Comparison of 2D Spin-Echo, Spin-Echo Multi-Spectral Imaging, and Ultra-Wide Bandwidth 3D Radial Techniques for Imaging Near Metal

Kevin M. Koch¹, Kevin F. King¹, Michael Carl², Graeme C. McKinnon¹

Imaging near metal hardware has become a routine clinical need in the MR community. There are a variety of factors that dictate which techniques can succeed in performing this task with acceptable levels of image artifact. Here, we compare standard high-bandwidth 2D spin echo approaches with two alternative methods, spin-echo Multi-Spectral Imaging (MSI), and ultra-high-bandwidth zero-TE 3D-radial imaging. Images were acquired on a gridded total hip replacement phantom at 3T. It is shown that spin-echo MSI techniques are able to substantially reduce artifacts compared to 2D spin-echo, but the 3D-radial techniques suffer from substantial image artifacts due to the severe warping of encoded projections