MR-IMAGING OF SOFT-TISSUES ADJACENT TO ORTHOPEDIC HARDWARE - TECHNIQUES TO MINIMIZE SUSCEPTIBILITY ARTIFACT

This article demonstrates and compares imaging of orthopaedic hardware (fixation plates, screws, Kischner wire and prostheses) using gradien t-echo, spin-echo and fast spin-echo sequences, It describes simple te chniques which minimize susceptibility artefact induced by these compo nents at magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, allowing visualization of ad jacent soft tissues, The article emphasizes the importance of selectin g the appropriate imaging plane in order to avoid hardware distortion of slice select gradients, emphasizes the importance of selecting freq uency encoding gradient axes in order to orientate the long axis of th e artefact away from the tissue of interest and, finally, compares the marked susceptibility artefact observed adjacent to hardware using gr adient-echo with the artefact reduction achieved by using fast spin-ec ho sequences.