Share:
Share this content in WeChat
X
TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Application of a dedicated surface coil in thyroid MRI provides superior image quality
YANG Qian  ZOU Liyan  LIU Zhou  DENG Wenming  ZHANG Miaoru  SONG Xiaomin  LI Tianran  WANG Yunfei  LUO Dehong 

Cite this article as: Yang Q, Zou LY, Liu Z, et al. Application of a dedicated surface coil in thyroid MRI provides superior image quality[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2021, 12(2): 57-61. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2021.02.013.


[Abstract] Objective To evaluate the quality of thyroid gland magnetic resonance images acquired using a surface coil exclusively designed for thyroid gland. Materials andMethods In this prospective study, forty-nine volunteers underwent MR examination using the surface coil exclusively designed for thyroid gland under a thyroid MR protocol including T1WI, T2WI, T2WI-FS (fat-suturation), DWI-STIR (diffusion weighted imaging-STIR) and DWI-FOCUS. For the qualitative evaluation, double-blinded evaluation was performed by two experienced radiologists on the image quality according to the Likert Scale scoring criteria, and then the consistency of the scoring results was analyzed. As for quantitative evaluation, the consistency in signal intensity, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) measured between each lobe of the thyroid gland on the MR images with different sequences was analyzed.Results Based on the subjective scoring criteria, all of the T1WI, T2WI, T2WI-FS images were rated no less than 4 points, while all of DWI-STIR and DWI-FOCUS images were rated no less than 3 points by two radiologists. Two radiologists agreed perfectly in the ratings of T1WI, T2WI, T2WI-FS, DWI-STIR and DWI-FOCUS sequences with consistency of 0.92, 0.94, 0.96, 0.93 and 0.89, respectively. For the objective evaluation in consistencies between two lobes of thyroid gland for the T1WI, T2WI, T2WI-FS, DWI-STIR and DWI-FOCUS sequences, consistency of 0.957, 0.937, 0.924, 0.871 and 0.848 for the mean signal intensities, 0.945, 0.957, 0.885, 0.825 and 0.773 for the signal-to-noise ratio, 0.577, 0.704, 0.740, 0.710 and 0.589 for the contrast-to-noise ration were obtained with mean signal intensities of 1246.39, 1345.03, 860.88, 236.91 and 569.06, SNRs of 17.56, 33.18, 42.82, 27.99 and 19.53, CNRs of 0.20, 5.36, 3.07, 16.01 and 9.91, respectively for each sequence.Conclusions The thyroid MR images acquired using the exclusively designed surface coil have high subjective rating scores, homogeneous signal intensity, high consistency in signal intensity, signal-to-noise ratios and contrast-to-noise ratio, which suggests that they could meet the requirement for clinical diagnosis.
[Keywords] thyroid;magnetic resonance imaging;image quality evaluation;surface coil;signal-to-noise ratio

YANG Qian1   ZOU Liyan1   LIU Zhou1   DENG Wenming1   ZHANG Miaoru1   SONG Xiaomin1   LI Tianran1   WANG Yunfei1   LUO Dehong1, 2*  

1 Department of Radiology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital & Shenzhen Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Shenzhen 518116, China

2 Department of Radiology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100021, China

Luo DH, E-mail: cjr.luodehong@vip.163.com

Conflicts of interest   None.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work was part of Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Shenzhen Center/ShenZhen Cancer Hospital Research Project (No. SZ2020ZD005).
Received  2020-09-14
Accepted  2021-01-13
DOI: 10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2021.02.013
Cite this article as: Yang Q, Zou LY, Liu Z, et al. Application of a dedicated surface coil in thyroid MRI provides superior image quality[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2021, 12(2): 57-61. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2021.02.013.

1
Wong R, Farrell SG, Grossmann M. Thyroid nodules: diagnosis and management[J]. Med J Aust, 2018, 209(2): 92-98. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-59474-3.
2
The head and neck group in the Chinese medical association radiology branch. Experts consensus of thyroid nodule imaging inspection process[J]. Chin J Radiol, 2016, 50(12): 911-915. DOI: 10.3760/cma.j.issn.1005-1201.2016.12.003.
3
Sun LX, Wang RF. Advances in clinical application of PET/CT in thyroid carcinoma[J]. J Chin Oncol, 2017, 23(6): 470-473. DOI: 10.11735/j.issn.1671-170X.2017.06.B003.
4
Paschou SA, Vryonidou A, Goulis DG. Thyroid nodules: Alpha guide to assessment, treatment and follow-up[J]. Maturitas, 2017, 96: 1-9. DOI: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2016.11.002.
5
Wang H, Song B, Ye N, et al. Machine learning-based multiparametric MRI radiomics for predicting the aggressiveness of papillary thyroid carcinoma[J]. Eur J Radiol, 2020, 122: 108755. DOI: 10.1016/j.ejrad.2019.108755.
6
Wang Y, Zhang H. Differentially diagnostic value of ADC values in diagnosing homogeneous benign and malignancy of thyroid nodules[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2017, 8(11): 822-826. DOI: 10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2017.11.005.
7
Ai ZD, Hou J, Li FP, et al. Intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging for differentiation between benign and malignant thyroid nodules[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2017, 8(10): 742-747. DOI: 10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2017.10.005.
8
Yue XH, Gao X, Tao XF. Dynamic enhanced MRI in the diagnosis of thyroid disease[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2012, 3(5): 361-366. DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-8034.2012.05.009.
9
Gradl J, Hreth M, Pfefferle T, et al. Application of a dedicated surface coil in dental MRI provides superior image quality in comparison with a standard coil[J]. Clin Neuroradiol, 2017, 27(3): 371-378. DOI: 10.1007/s00062-016-0500-9.
10
Zhang F, Li P, Yao J. Analysis of quantitative MRI and ultrasound in qualitative diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid nodules[J]. J Med Imaging, 2017, 27(4): 611-615. DOI: 1006-9011(2017)04-0611-05.
11
Wang X, Hu SD, Zhang H, et al. Multiparametric MR imaging for differentiating between thyroid adenoma and papillary thyroid carcinoma[J]. J Clin Radiol, 2019, 38(3): 414-418. DOI: 10.13437/j.cnki.jcr.2019.03.012.
12
Yue XH, Tao XF, Gao X. Application of diffusion-weighted MR imaging in the diagnosis of thyroid disease[J]. Chin J Radiol, 2012, 46(6): 500-504. DOI: 10.3760/cma.j.issn.1005-1201.2012.06.004.
13
Feng ST, Huang M. MRI T2-weighted imaging and fat-suppressed T2-weighted imaging image fusion technology improves image discriminability for the evaluation of anal fistulas[J]. Korean J Radiol, 2019, 20(3): 429-437. DOI: 10.3348/kjr.2018.0260
14
Takahara T, Imai Y, Yamashita T, et al. Diffusion weighted whole body imaging with background body signal suppression (DWIBS): technical improvement using free breathing, STIR and high resolution 3D display[J]. Radiat Med, 2004, 22(4): 275-282. DOI: 10.1002/adsc.200505012.
15
Bitar R, Leung G, Perng R, et al. MR pulse sequences: what every radiologist wants to know but is afraid to ask[J]. Radiographics, 2006, 26(2): 513-537. DOI: 10.1148/rg.262055063.
16
Kazama T, Nasu K, Kuroki Y, et al. Comparison of diffusion-weighted images using short inversion time inversion recovery or chemical shift selective pulse as fat suppression in patients with breast cancer[J]. Jpn J Radiol, 2009, 27(4): 163-167. DOI: 10.1007/s11604-009-0314-7.
17
Woodhams R, Ramadan S, Stanwell P, et al. Diffusion-weighted imaging of the breast: principles and clinical applications[J]. Radiographics, 2011, 31(4): 1059-1084. DOI: 10.1148/rg.314105160.
18
Brand OS, Nogueira L, Matos E, et al. Fat suppression techniques (STIR vs. SPAIR) on diffusion-weighted imaging of breast lesions at 3.0 T: preliminary experience[J]. Radiol Med, 2015, 120(8): 705-713. DOI: 10.1007/s11547-015-0508-2.
19
Tian Y, Wang J, Li M, et al. Comparison of field-of-view optimized and constrained undistorted single-shot diffusion-weighted imaging and conventional diffusion-weighted imaging of optic nerve and chiasma at 3T[J]. Neuroradiology, 2018, 60(9): 903-912. DOI: 10.1007/s00234-018-2058-5.
20
Gradl J, HoReth M, Pfefferle T, et al. Application of a dedicated surface coil in dental MRI provides superior image quality in comparison with a standard coil[J]. Clin Neuroradiol, 2017, 27(3): 371-378.
21
Sun Q, Dong MJ, Tao XF, et al. Selection and application of coils in temporomandibular joint MRI[J]. Dentomaxillofacial Radiol, 2019, 49(3): 20190002.
22
Wang QJ, Guo Y, Zhang J, et al. Diagnostic value of high b-value (2000 s/mm2) DWI for thyroid micronodules[J]. Medicine, 2019, 98(10): e14298.

PREV The feasibility of reduced field-of-view DWI in the evaluation of bone marrow edema in knee joint contusion
NEXT The effect of different scanning schemes on the image quality in evaluating the relationship between axillary lymph nodes and blood vessels of breast cancer
  



Tel & Fax: +8610-67113815    E-mail: editor@cjmri.cn