Type:
Educational Exhibit
Keywords:
MR physics, Musculoskeletal spine, Musculoskeletal system, MR, Diagnostic procedure, Education, Physics, Artifacts
Authors:
M. Mangi, W. Lim
DOI:
10.26044/ranzcr2023/C-12
Background
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the spine is increasingly used for indications such as back pain, radiculopathy, claudication, inflammatory arthropathy, trauma and cancer staging. However, interpretation can be complicated by the presence of artefacts, which are observations made in the MR image which are not present in the original imaged subject. These can occur as a result of MRI hardware, scanning parameters or patient factors [1]. Not only can this negatively affect the quality of the images, it can also be confused with pathology [1]. Understanding the different types of artefacts and their origins allows one to be aware of the limitation of the study and helps avoid the potential pitfalls posed by imaging artefacts.