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. 2022 Nov 1;57(11):711-719.
doi: 10.1097/RLI.0000000000000886. Epub 2022 May 6.

Image Quality of High-Resolution 3-Dimensional Neck MRI Using CAIPIRINHA-VIBE and GRASP-VIBE: An Intraindividual Comparative Study

Minkook Seo  1 , Jimin Yoon  1 , Yangsean Choi  1 , Dominik Nickel  2 , Jinhee Jang  1 , Na-Young Shin  1 , Kook-Jin Ahn  1 , Bum-Soo Kim  1
Affiliations

Image Quality of High-Resolution 3-Dimensional Neck MRI Using CAIPIRINHA-VIBE and GRASP-VIBE: An Intraindividual Comparative Study

Minkook Seo et al. Invest Radiol. .

Abstract

Objectives: Acquiring high-quality magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the head and neck region is often challenging due to motion and susceptibility artifacts. This study aimed to compare image quality of 2 high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) MRI sequences of the neck, controlled aliasing in parallel imaging results in higher acceleration (CAIPIRINHA)-volumetric interpolated breath-hold examination (VIBE), and golden-angle radial sparse parallel imaging (GRASP)-VIBE.

Materials and methods: One hundred seventy-three patients indicated for contrast-enhanced neck MRI examination were scanned using 3 T scanners and both CAIPIRINHA-VIBE and GRASP-VIBE with nearly isotropic 3D acquisitions (<1 mm in-plane resolution with analogous acquisition times). Patients' MRI scans were independently rated by 2 radiologists using a 5-grade Likert scale for overall image quality, artifact level, mucosal and lesion conspicuity, and fat suppression degree at separate anatomical regions. Interobserver agreement was calculated using the Cohen κ coefficient. The quality ratings of both sequences were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test. Nonuniformity and contrast-to-noise ratio values were measured in all subjects. Separate MRI scans were performed twice for each sequence in a phantom and healthy volunteer without contrast injection to calculate the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).

Results: The scores of overall image quality, overall artifact level, motion artifact level, and conspicuity of the nasopharynx, oropharynx, oral cavity, hypopharynx, and larynx were all significantly higher in GRASP-VIBE than in CAIPIRINHA-VIBE (all P 's < 0.001). Moderate to substantial interobserver agreement was observed in overall image quality (GRASP-VIBE κ = 0.43; CAIPIRINHA-VIBE κ = 0.59) and motion artifact level (GRASP-VIBE κ = 0.51; CAIPIRINHA-VIBE κ = 0.65). Lesion conspicuity was significantly higher in GRASP-VIBE than in CAIPIRINHA-VIBE ( P = 0.005). The degree of fat suppression was weaker in the lower neck regions in GRASP-VIBE (3.90 ± 0.72) than in CAIPIRINHA-VIBE (4.97 ± 0.21) ( P < 0.001). The contrast-to-noise ratio at hypopharyngeal level was significantly higher in GRASP-VIBE (6.28 ± 4.77) than in CAIPIRINHA-VIBE (3.14 ± 9.95) ( P < 0.001). In the phantom study, the SNR of GRASP-VIBE was 12 times greater than that of CAIPIRINHA-VIBE. The in vivo SNR of the volunteer MRI scan was 13.6 in CAIPIRINHA-VIBE and 20.7 in GRASP-VIBE.

Conclusions: Both sequences rendered excellent images for head and neck MRI scans. GRASP-VIBE provided better image quality, as well as mucosal and lesion conspicuities, with less motion artifacts, whereas CAIPIRINHA-VIBE provided better fat suppression in the lower neck regions.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest and sources of funding: This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea funded by the Ministry of Education (2021R1I1A1A01040285). This study was performed using a Siemens clinical magnetic resonance imaging scanner with a prototypical GRASP sequence. D.N., an employee of Siemens Healthcare GmbH, Erlangen, Germany, implemented the GRASP sequence. H.-S.L., an employee of Siemens Healthineers Ltd, Seoul, Republic of Korea, supported the optimization of the protocol. The authors did not receive any financial support from Siemens. M.S., J.Y., Y.C., J.J., N.-Y.S., K.-J.A., and B.-S.K. have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

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