MR METAL ARTIFACT

Metal Artifact Reduction

1. Should be used on all msk scans especially in the presence of metal

a. FSE rather than conventional spin echo as less artifact with FSE

b. XL option for FSE which shortens inter-echo spacing time and reduces metal artifact

2. To minimize inhomogeneous fat suppression on fluid-sensitive sequence

a. Use STIR in place of T2 FSE fat sat.

b. Use IDEALarc in place of T2 FSE fat sat or T1 FSE (post-contrast)

3. Set the TE to at least 20 for T1 and PD images

4. Increase echo train length to 6 on T1 and PD scans & at least 8 on STIR

a. Will shorten scan but also increase blurring

5. Increase receiver bandwidth to 62 kHz

a. Increasing bandwidth reduces artifact but will decrease SNR

6. Increase frequency matrix to 320

a. Increasing matrix will also decrease SNR

7. Place frequency encoding axis in orientation where artifact is less important

a. Metal artifact is greatest in the frequency encoding direction.

b. Add NPW if frequency is swapped