Imaging Hippocampus of Mental Patients with BLADE Technique

doi:10.11938/cjmr20182700

Abstract

Abstract: BLADE is the commercial name of a spin-echo imaging technique that uses periodically rotated overlapping parallel lines with enhanced reconstruction (PROPELLER) k-space trajectory. In this study, the efficiency of using BLADE to improve hippocampal imaging in mental patients was assessed. The hippocampi of 47 mental patients were imaged on a 3.0 T scanner along the oblique coronal orientation using the T₂WI TSE and T₂WI FLAIR sequences with or without the use of BLADE. The same four sequences were also used to scan a standard American College of Radiology (ACR) phantom according to the ACR standards. The hippocampal images were scored by two radiologists using a 5-point scale, in terms of motion artifact, pulsation artifact, perceptive coarseness and image quality. The outcomes were compared between the sequences by two-sample Wilcoxon tests. The images of the phantom were evaluated semi-quantitatively for high contrast spatial resolution (HCSR) and low contrast object detection detectability (LCD) by counting the number of hole arrays and spokes that could be detected. The results showed that, compared to the conventional sequences, the sequences combined with BLADE technique showed significantly reduced motion and pulsation artifacts (p<0.001), improved image quality (p<0.05), but increased the perceptive coarseness (p<0.001). In the phantom experiments, the use of BLADE greatly improved the LCD, but had little effects on the HCSR. Based on these results, the BLADE technique is recommended for hippocampal imaging in mental patients with low compliance with the guidance.

Key words: BLADE, magnetic resonance image, mental disease, hippocampus

CLC Number:

O482.53

SHAO Dan-dan, WANG Xue-xue, PAN Zi-lai, CHEN Ke-min, ZHANG Zhong-shuai, YUAN Li-li, XU Zi-yue, CHEN Lei, WANG Jin-hong. Imaging Hippocampus of Mental Patients with BLADE Technique[J]. Chinese Journal of Magnetic Resonance, 2019, 36(3): 261-267.

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