Background The purpose of the present study was to compare the image quality
of spinal magnetic resonance (MR) imaging performed on a high-field horizontal
open versus a short-bore MR scanner in a randomized controlled study setup.
Methods Altogether, 93 (80% women, mean age 53) consecutive patients underwent
spine imaging after random assignement to a 1-T horizontal open MR scanner
with a vertical magnetic field or a 1.5-T short-bore MR scanner. This patient
subset was part of a larger cohort. Image quality was assessed by determining
qualitative parameters, signal-to-noise (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratios
(CNR), and quantitative contour sharpness. Results The image quality
parameters were higher for short-bore MR imaging. Regarding all sequences, the
relative differences were 39% for the mean overall qualitative image quality,
53% for the mean SNR values, and 34–37% for the quantitative contour sharpness
(P<0.0001). The CNR values were also higher for images obtained with the
short-bore MR scanner. No sequence was of very poor (nondiagnostic) image
quality. Scanning times were significantly longer for examinations performed
on the open MR scanner (mean: 32±22 min versus 20±9 min; P<0.0001).
Conclusions In this randomized controlled comparison of spinal MR imaging with
an open versus a short-bore scanner, short-bore MR imaging revealed
considerably higher image quality with shorter scanning times
