• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.835-842
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• 2022

This study is aimed to evaluate the effects of a synthetic MR technique in reducing metal artifacts. In the experiment, the in-plane and through-plane images were acquired by applying a synthetic MR technique and a high-speed spin echo technique to a phantom manufactured with screw for spinal surgery. The area of the metal artifact was compared. The metal artifacts were measured by dividing the signal-loss and the signal pile-up areas, and the area of the final artifact was calculated through the sum of the two. As a result, the metal artifacts were relatively reduced when the synthetic MR techniques were applied to both in-plane and through-plane. Comparing by sequence, the in-plane T1 images decreased by 23.45%, T2 images by 20.85%, PD images by 19.67%, and FLAIR images by 22.12%. Also, in the case of the through-plane, the T1 image decreased by 62.95%, the T2 image decreased by 73.93%, the PD image decreased by 74.68%, and the FLAIR image decreased by 66.43%. The cause of this result is that when the synthetic MR technique is applied, the distortion is due to the signal pile-up and does not occur and the size of the entire metal artifact is reduced. Therefore, synthetic MR technique can very effectively reduce metal artifacts, which can help to increase the diagnostic value of images.