ABSTRACT
Objective To evaluate the performance of PROPELLER diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance image (DWI) in reducing image distortion caused by susceptibility artifacts. Methods Forty volunteers with metal denture were enrolled in the present study; their PROPELLER and echo-planar DWI were taken for the skull base. The quality of each image was evaluated by using a four-point scoring system. Qualitative comparison of image distortion between PROPELLER DWI and echo-planar DWI was performed by ROC analysis. Results The area under the ROC curve was 0.979 (P<0.01), indicating a significant difference in the image distortion between PROPELLER DWI and echo-planar DWI. PROPELLER technique could greatly reduce the image distortion associated with magnetic susceptibility artifacts. Conclusion PROPELLER technique can greatly reduce metal denture-induced susceptibility-related image distortion, and ROC curve can be used for quantitative analysis of subjective assessment of image quality.