Primary study on finger joints MRI coil and its value in rheumatoid arthritis / 实用放射学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the MR performances of finger joints with health subjects and rheumatoid arthritis (RA)patients,and to detect the imaging quality of a custom-made finger coil.Methods Finger coil,extremity coil,flexible surface coil and 3 inch surface coil were used to scan the self-made water phantom with similar T2 WI sequence,then the signal to noise ratio (SNR)on single image was measured for the comparison.The middle finger specimen (1 finger)was used for the research,5 healthy volunteers (8 fingers)and 18 RA patients (22 fingers)were also scanned.Results The SNR of finger coil was over 1.5 times higher than that of the 3 inch surface coil and 4 times higher than that of the extremity coil and flexible surface coil.For the 22 fingers with confirmed RA,synovitis was found in 1 7,joint effusion in 10,bone marrow edema in 5,bone erosion in 7 and tenosynovitis in 6.Conclusion The finger coil has higher SNR.