Brain imaging: Comparison of T1W FLAIR BLADE with conventional T1W SE.

Introduction: Although T1 weighted spin echo (T1W SE) images are widely used to study anatomical details and pathologic abnormalities of the brain, its role in delineation of lesions and reduction of artifacts has not been thoroughly investigated. BLADE is a fairly new technique that has been reported to reduce motion artifacts and improve image quality.

Objective: The primary objective of this study is to compare the quality of T1-weighted fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) images with BLADE technique (T1W FLAIR BLADE) and the quality of T1W SE images in the MR imaging of the brain.

Arachnoid cysts: the role of the BLADE technique.

Background: This study aims at demonstrating the ability of BLADE sequences to reduce or even eliminate all the image artifacts as well as verifying the significance of using this technique in certain pathological conditions.

Material And Methods: This study involved fourteen consecutive patients (5 females, 9 males), who routinely underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain examination, between 2010-2014. The applied routine protocol for brain MRI examination included the following sequences: i) T2-weighted (W) fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) axial; ii) T2-W turbo spin echo (TSE) axial; iii) T2*-W axial, iv) T1-W TSE sagittal; v) Diffusion-weighted (DWI) axial; vi) T1-W TSE axial; vii) T1-W TSE axial+contrast.

Reduction of motion, truncation and flow artifacts using BLADE sequences in cervical spine MR imaging.

Purpose: To assess the efficacy of the BLADE technique (MR imaging with 'rotating blade-like k-space covering') to significantly reduce motion, truncation, flow and other artifacts in cervical spine compared to the conventional technique.

Materials And Methods: In eighty consecutive subjects, who had been routinely scanned for cervical spine examination, the following pairs of sequences were compared: a) T2 TSE SAG vs. T2 TSE SAG BLADE and b) T2 TIRM SAG vs.

Comparison of BLADE and conventional T2-TSE sequences for the sagittal visualization of the cervical spinal cord in multiple sclerosis patients - a case report.

The purpose of this study is to report the significant differences found in the identification of lesions in cervical spinal cord of two patients with multiple sclerosis when using the BLADE T2-TSE and BLADE T2-TIRM sequences as opposed to the conventional T2-TSE and T2-TIRM sequences for sagittal acquisition at 1.5T. In both patients, one more lesion was identified with the BLADE sequences than with the conventional ones.

Comparison of PD BLADE with fat saturation (FS), PD FS and T2 3D DESS with water excitation (WE) in detecting articular knee cartilage defects.

The purpose of this study, is to compare the sequences: 1) proton density (PD) BLADE (BLADE is a PROPELLER-equivalent implementation of the Siemens Medical System) with fat saturation (FS) coronal (COR), 2) PD FS COR, 3) multi-planar reconstruction (MPR) with 3mm slice thickness and 4) multi-planar reconstruction (MPR) with 1.5mm slice thickness, both from the T2 3D-double-echo steady state (DESS) with water excitation (WE) sagittal (SAG), regarding their abilities to identify changes in the femorotibial condyle cartilage in knee MRI examinations. Thirty three consecutive patients with osteoarthritis (18 females, 15 males; mean age 56years, range 37-71years), who had been routinely scanned for knee examination using the previously mentioned image acquisition techniques, participated in the study.

Elimination of motion, pulsatile flow and cross-talk artifacts using blade sequences in lumbar spine MR imaging.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the ability of T2 turbo spin echo (TSE) axial and sagittal BLADE sequences in reducing or even eliminating motion, pulsatile flow and cross-talk artifacts in lumbar spine MRI examinations. Forty four patients, who had routinely undergone a lumbar spine examination, participated in the study. The following pairs of sequences with and without BLADE were compared: a) T2 TSE Sagittal (SAG) in thirty two cases, and b) T2 TSE Axial (AX) also in thirty two cases.

Improvement of image quality using BLADE sequences in brain MR imaging.

The purpose of this study is to compare two types of sequences in brain magnetic resonance (MR) examinations of uncooperative and cooperative patients. For each group of patients, the pairs of sequences that were compared were two T2-weighted (T2-W) fluid attenuated inversion recovery sequences with different k-space trajectories (conventional Cartesian and BLADE) and two T2-TSE weighted with different k-space trajectories (conventional Cartesian and BLADE). Twenty-three consecutive uncooperative patients and 44 cooperative patients, who routinely underwent brain MR imaging examination, participated in the study.