Is 3 Tesla MRI ready to be the new work horse scanner?

Advantages: On a physics basis 3T MRI has better signal to noise. 3T the extra signal makes you able to cut thinner or scan with higher resolution. Quality of the brain MRI studies at 3T is exceptional with a smooth depiction of the gray what matter junction and added sensitivity to hemorrhage. In the musculoskeletal system 3T is king. All musculoskeletal studies are improved by the higher resolution, better fat sat and contrast sensitivity.

Challenge in Body Imaging: But new acquisition techniques such as multitransmit made available at 3T, can reduce B1 inhomogeneity artifacts and improve effectiveness in body imaging.

Heating up of non-ferrous implants: Some implants which are non-ferrous can heat up and cause burns when in a more powerful magnet environment. Part of having experience at 3T is to understand where you might run into a SAR issue and know immediately how to deal with it. The simple easy answer is when you hit a SAR barrier accelerate over it. It works most of the time. In the cases where it does not work – switch to gradient echos which deposit less SAR. Coronary Stents: The greater heat production due to thermal relaxation although not proved to make a big problem with cardiac stents but it should be investigated thoroughly.

By going through above discussion, i personally feel 3Tesla would soon be the work horse scanner. What are your views on this? Please feel free to share opinion in comment section.

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