Acceleration of skeletal age MR examination using compressed sensing

• Published in: Journal of magnetic resonance imaging 2016-07, Vol.44 (1), p.204-211
• Main Authors: Terada, Yasuhiko, Tamada, Daiki, Kose, Katsumi, Nozaki, Taiki, Kaneko, Yasuhito, Miyagi, Ryo, Yoshioka, Hiroshi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Age; Age Determination by Skeleton - methods; Aging - pathology; Aging - physiology; Algorithms; Child; Child, Preschool; compressed sensing; Data Compression - methods; Digital broadcasting; Feasibility Studies; Female; Hand Bones - diagnostic imaging; Hand Bones - growth & development; Humans; Image Enhancement - methods; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted - methods; Magnetic resonance imaging; Male; Observer Variation; open compact MRI; pediatrics; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity; skeletal age assessment
• ISSN: 1053-1807; 1522-2586
• DOI: 10.1002/jmri.25140

Purpose To examine the feasibility of accelerating magnetic resonance (MR) image acquisition for children using compressed sensing (CS). Skeletal age assessment using MRI sometimes suffers from motion artifacts because of the long scan time in children. Reducing image acquisition time may provide benefits by reducing motion artifacts, increasing efficiency of examination, and creating a stress‐free environment. Materials and Methods Undersampling patterns for CS were optimized and CS‐based examination with the acceleration factors of 3 (CS3, 55 seconds per scan) and 4 (CS4, 41 seconds per scan) was performed for 59 subjects (35 boys and 24 girls; mean age, 9.1 years; age range, 4.4–15.3 years) using a 0.3T scanner. The skeletal age was assessed by two raters (A and B). Results The interrater and intrarater reproducibility in skeletal age assessment was high (Pearson's r = 0.966 [CS3(A1) vs. CS3(A2)], 0.962 [CS4(A1) vs. CS4(A2)], 0.935 [CS3(A1) vs. CS3(B)], and 0.964 [CS4(A1) vs. CS4(B)]; P < 0.001). The errors in skeletal age assessed on the basis of CS‐reconstructed images were similar to those assessed on the basis of fully Nyquist‐sampled images. Conclusion These results demonstrate the validity and reliability of skeletal age examination accelerated by CS‐MRI. We conclude that the acceleration factor of 3 was optimal. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2016;44:204–211.