Application of a three-point method for water-fat MR imaging in children

Background. Effective fat suppression is desirable in clinical magnetic res onance imaging. Conventional frequency selective fat suppression is depende nt on accurate prescan shimming and is subject to artifacts due to magnetic field inhomogeneity. Quadrature three-point water-fat imaging with direct phase encoding is an alternative technique for fat suppression that has bee n previously described in adult volunteers and patients. Objective. To evaluate the use of three-point water-fat imaging with direct phase encoding for fat-suppressed MR scans in children. Materials and methods. Sixty-two three-point water-fat imaging studies were performed in 55 children 2 months to 18 years old. T1-weighted fat-suppres sed (water) images from this sequence were compared with frequency selectiv e fat-suppressed images obtained in 15 patients. The reliability and subjec tive quality of the sequence were assessed in the remaining 47 cases. Results. High-quality fat suppression was achieved in all anatomic sites st udied, even where frequency selective fat-suppression failed due to magneti c susceptibility artifact. The three-point water-fat sequence was visually preferred to the frequency selective fat saturation tech nique in 15/15 cas es. Conclusion. Three-point water-fat imaging has replaced the conventional fre quency selective technique for fat suppression on T1-weighted MR imaging at our institution.