RESUMO
PURPOSE: This study aims to compare the quality of images resulting from magnetic resonance imaging of patients who underwent intracranial MRI simulation using two different setups (treatment position with mask immobilization and standard diagnostic setup). Due to a larger number of channels and lack of mask immobilization in the standard diagnostic setup, we would like to evaluate whether this is an appropriate technique for MRI treatment planning. METHODS: In total, 70 patients who underwent MR imaging of the brain at 1.5T were included in the study (48 for 6channel flex coil, 22 for 24-channel HNU face bill coil). Contrast-enhanced 3D T1w and T2 FLAIR images were acquired. Images were subjectively compared for artifact appearance and general image quality by three radiographers. Objective comparison of contrast rate, contrast-to-noise ratio, and signal-to-noise ratio was also performed. RESULTS: FLAIR and contrast-enhanced 3D T1w images showed various artifacts, such as susceptibility and movement artifacts. There were no statistically significant differences regarding the evaluation of movement artifacts between two coils and two different immobilization methods. There were also no statistically significant differences (pâ¯> 0.05) between the 6channel flex coil and 24-channel HNU face bill coil regarding qualitative general image quality and objective measures. CONCLUSION: There were no statistically significant differences between the occurrence of movement artifacts, overall image quality, and objective image quality in treatment position with mask immobilization and standard diagnostic setup. Based on this result, we can conclude that a standard diagnostic setup is also applicable in intracranial MRI treatment planning with no loss to image quality. Registration of the imaging plans was not performed in this study; therefore, it might still be necessary to perform measurements of tumor delineation matching and geometrical accuracy acceptance in our institution.
