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• Technical Article •
Comparison of diameter measurements of pulmonary solid nodules and image quality between 0.55 T and 1.5 T 3D-UTE MRI at different respiratory phases
ZHANG Yi  ZHANG Huijie  LI Wei  WANG Xiang  MA Shuai  QIU Jianxing  LIU Jia 

Cite this article as: ZHANG Y, ZHANG H J, LI W, et al. Comparison of diameter measurements of pulmonary solid nodules and image quality between 0.55 T and 1.5 T 3D-UTE MRI at different respiratory phases[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2026, 17(9): 162-171, 189. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2026.09.021.


[Abstract] Objective To compare pulmonary solid nodule diameter measurements and image quality obtained using ultrashort echo time (UTE) sequences on 0.55 T and 1.5 T MRI systems during different respiratory phases and to assess the feasibility of 0.55 T UTE sequences for measuring pulmonary solid nodule diameter and evaluating image quality.Materials and Methods Twenty-six patients with pulmonary solid nodules detected on chest CT who underwent inspiratory and expiratory phase 3D-UTE scans on both 0.55 T and 1.5 T MRI systems were prospectively enrolled, and a total of 84 pulmonary solid nodules were detected on CT. Seventeen pulmonary solid nodules that could not be completely visualized on all four 3D-UTE image sets were excluded, and six patients were excluded because they had no eligible pulmonary solid nodules; 67 pulmonary solid nodules in 20 patients were ultimately included in the quantitative analysis. Two radiologists independently measured the maximum diameter of each pulmonary solid nodule on CT and each MRI image set and performed subjective (5-point Likert scale) and objective assessments; the latter included the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of the nodules. Interobserver agreement for subjective scores was evaluated using a weighted kappa test; intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and Bland-Altman analyses were used to assess both interobserver agreement and the agreement between CT and each MRI acquisition. Multiple related samples were compared using the Friedman two-way analysis of variance by ranks, with Dunn's correction for pairwise comparisons.Results Of the 84 pulmonary solid nodules detected on CT, 67 (79.8%) were fully visualized on all four 3D-UTE image sets; the visualization rate was 91.2% (62/68) for pulmonary solid nodules ≥6 mm and only 31.3% (5/16) for those <6 mm in diameter. Interobserver agreement was excellent for all parameters (diameter ICCs, 0.980 to 0.985). The CT reference diameter was 10.5 (6.9, 17.0) mm, and the pulmonary solid nodule diameters measured on 0.55 T inspiratory, 0.55 T expiratory, 1.5 T inspiratory, and 1.5 T expiratory UTE images were 10.6 (6.4, 16.5) mm, 10.8 (6.5, 17.0) mm, 10.2 (6.5, 16.6) mm, and 9.7 (6.5, 16.9) mm, respectively, with no statistically significant overall difference among the five groups (χ2=6.105, P=0.191); the ICCs between CT and each MRI acquisition ranged from 0.986 to 0.991, with mean biases ranging from -0.50 to 0.32 mm and no systematic bias. The overall distribution of subjective scores differed significantly among the four MRI image groups (χ2 = 15.16, P = 0.002), whereas no significant pairwise difference was observed after Dunn's correction (all P > 0.05). The overall distributions of SNR and CNR both differed significantly among the four groups (χ2=80.50 and 92.82, respectively; both P < 0.001); during both the inspiratory and expiratory phases, SNR and CNR were significantly higher at 1.5 T than at 0.55 T (all P < 0.001), whereas neither metric differed significantly between the inspiratory and expiratory phases at the same field strength.Conclusions For pulmonary solid nodules that can be clearly visualized on 3D-UTE images, the mean diameter measurements obtained with 0.55 T and 1.5 T UTE sequences during different respiratory phases were comparable to the CT reference values. However, the limits of agreement at the individual nodule level were relatively wide, and the measurement differences for some pulmonary solid nodules may exceed clinically acceptable ranges. For pulmonary solid nodules ≥6 mm that are detectable on UTE sequences, 0.55 T 3D-UTE may serve as a radiation-free adjunct to CT for nodule diameter assessment; however, it cannot yet replace CT for initial screening for pulmonary solid nodules or follow-up evaluation of all pulmonary solid nodules.
[Keywords] pulmonary nodule；magnetic resonance imaging；ultrashort echo time；low-field magnetic resonance imaging；image quality

ZHANG Yi1   ZHANG Huijie2   LI Wei1   WANG Xiang1   MA Shuai1   QIU Jianxing1   LIU Jia1*  

1 Department of Radiology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, China

2 Department of Radiology, Xinxiang Central Hospital, Xinxiang 453001, China

Corresponding author: LIU J, E-mail: liujia8877@126.com

Conflicts of interest   None.

Received  2026-06-11
Accepted  2026-08-24
DOI: 10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2026.09.021
Cite this article as: ZHANG Y, ZHANG H J, LI W, et al. Comparison of diameter measurements of pulmonary solid nodules and image quality between 0.55 T and 1.5 T 3D-UTE MRI at different respiratory phases[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2026, 17(9): 162-171, 189. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2026.09.021.

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