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• Special Focus •
Image quality evaluation of conventional brain MRI sequences on 1.5 T helium-free magnetic resonance imaging
YAN Dong  ZHOU Fengyun  LI Na  XU Xiaoming  YANG Fan  ZHANG Wei  GU Dalong  WANG Luyao  CHENG Xiaoguang 

DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2026.05.003.


[Abstract] Objective To compare the image quality of 1.5 T helium-free magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with that of conventional 1.5 T MRI in brain imaging, assessing the clinical feasibility of 1.5 T helium-free MRI.Materials and Methods This retrospective study included 100 patients (50 examined with 1.5 T helium-free MRI and 50 with conventional 1.5 T MRI) who underwent non-contrast brain scans. Subjective scoring was performed on T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) of brain parenchyma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Quantitative measurements included signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) from T1 fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (Flair) sequences, as well as apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values from diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI). Weighted Kappa coefficients were used to evaluate intra-observer consistency in subjective scoring, while independent sample t-tests compared SNR, CNR, and ADC values between the two systems.Results The average subjective scores for brain parenchyma and CSF were 3.85 and 4.94, respectively, for helium-free MRI, compared to 4.26 and 4.74 for conventional MRI. Although the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05), all scores met clinical diagnostic requirements. Objective analysis showed no significant differences (P > 0.05) in SNR (parietal, frontal, occipital lobes, and cerebellum) or ADC values (parietal, frontal, temporal, and occipital lobes) between the two systems.Conclusions The brain image quality of the 1.5 T helium-free MRI is comparable to that of the traditional 1.5 T helium-based MRI, and it meets the requirements of clinical diagnosis,indicating that helium-free MRI equipment has application potential in clinical practice.
[Keywords] liquid helium-free；brain imaging；image quality；magnetic resonance imaging；signal-to-noise ratio；contrast-to-noise ratio

YAN Dong1   ZHOU Fengyun2   LI Na1   XU Xiaoming1   YANG Fan1   ZHANG Wei1   GU Dalong1   WANG Luyao1   CHENG Xiaoguang1*  

1 Department of Radiology, Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100035, China

2 Department of Radiology, Chongqing University Cancer Hospital, Chongqing 400030, China

Corresponding author: CHENG X G, E-mail: xiao65@263.net

Conflicts of interest   None.

Received  2025-01-05
Accepted  2025-08-29
DOI: 10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2026.05.003
DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2026.05.003.

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