Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the In-vivo Human Tympanic Membrane

Background: To obtain magnetic resonance images of the in-vivo human tympanic membraneto avoid radiation exposure.Methods: Images of the in-vivo human tympanic membrane were obtained by magneticresonance imaging (MRI). The differences in resolution of the imagesobtained by multi slice single echo (MSSE) and 3-dimentional (3D) SNAPsequences were then compared.Results: The resolution of the 2D MR images acquired by MSSE sequences was higherthan that obtained by 3D SNAP. The voxel size of the MR images wassmaller than that with 3D SNAP because of the narrower slice thickness.Therefore, the spatial resolution of the 3D SNAP sequenced images was betterthan that of MSSE images. The scanning time for MSSE and 3D SNAPwere 12 minutes and 40 seconds and 1 minute and 42 seconds respectively.The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of MR images with 3D SNAP was 0.32decibels higher than that with MSSE.Conclusion: In this study, MR images of the in-vivo human tympanic membrane could beobtained with a 9-cm surface coil with MSSE and 3D SNAP sequences. Thespatial resolution of MR images acquired with 3D SNAP was better than thatwith MSSE. The scanning time with 3D SNAP was shorter than that withMSSE based on similar SNRs. The structure and geometry of the tympanicmembrane can be observed clearly, which would be helpful for diagnosis inclinics and can avoid radiation exposure.