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Soft Tissue Neck MRI

Indications for soft tissue neck MRI scan

Contraindications

Patient preparation for soft tissue neck MRI scan

Positioning for soft tissue neck MRI

Recommended Soft Tissue Neck MRI Protocols and Planning

Soft tissue neck MRI localiser

A three-plane localizer must be taken at the beginning to localize and plan the sequences. Localizers are normally less than 25 seconds and are T1-weighted low-resolution scans.

MRI NECK localiser image

T2 stir coronal 3mm 280FOV

Plan the coronal slices on the sagittal plane, and angle the planning block parallel to the cervical spine. Check the planning block in the other two planes. An appropriate angle must be given in the axial plane (perpendicular to the nasal septum). The slices must be sufficient to cover the soft tissue of the neck from the nose tip up to the line of the spinous process of the cervical spine. The field of view (FOV) must be large enough to cover the entire neck from the frontal sinus down to the clavicle. The phase direction in the coronal scans must be from right to left; this is to avoid artifacts from chest and heart motion.

During the sequence acquisition, it is crucial to instruct the patient not to swallow. In our imaging department, we provide 30 seconds after each scan for the patient to swallow saliva. This precaution helps prevent motion artifacts in the neck during image acquisition. Additionally, the use of saturation bands under the coronal block can effectively reduce arterial pulsation artifacts.

MRI mri soft tissue neck planning and protocol of coronal scans

Parameters

TR

5000-6000

TE

110

FLIP

150

NEX

2

SLICE

3 MM

MATRIX

384X320

FOV

280-300

PHASE

R>L

GAP

10%

TI

150

T1 tse coronal 3mm 280FOV

Plan the coronal slices on the sagittal plane, and angle the planning block parallel to the cervical spine. Check the planning block in the other two planes. An appropriate angle must be given in the axial plane (perpendicular to the nasal septum). The slices must be sufficient to cover the soft tissue of the neck from the nose tip up to the line of the spinous process of the cervical spine. The field of view (FOV) must be large enough to cover the entire neck from the frontal sinus down to the clavicle. The phase direction in the coronal scans must be from right to left; this is to avoid artifacts from chest and heart motion.

During the sequence acquisition, it is crucial to instruct the patient not to swallow. In our imaging department, we provide 30 seconds after each scan for the patient to swallow saliva. This precaution helps prevent motion artifacts in the neck during image acquisition. Additionally, the use of saturation bands under the coronal block can effectively reduce arterial pulsation artifacts.

Parameters

TR

500-700

TE

15-25

SLICE

3 MM

FLIP

140

PHASE

R>L

MATRIX

384X384

FOV

280-300

GAP

10%

NEX(AVRAGE)

2

T1 tse axial 3mm 270 FOV

Plan the axial slices on the sagittal plane: angle the planning block horizontally across the neck (approximately parallel to the hard palate in a chin-down position). Check the planning  block in the other two planes. An appropriate angle must be given in the coronal plane (perpendicular to the cervical spine). Slices must be sufficient to cover the soft tissue of the neck from the frontal sinus down to the line of the sterno-clavicular joint. The phase direction in the axial scans must be right to left with 100% oversample. This will reduce wrap around, arterial pulsation and swallowing artifacts.

It is important to instruct the patient to avoid swallowing during the sequence acquisition (in our imaging department, we give 30 seconds after each scan for the patient to swallow saliva). This will prevent motion artifacts in the neck during image acquisition. Using saturation bands under the axial block can further reduce arterial pulsation artifacts.

MRI mri soft tissue neck planning and protocol of axial scans

Parameters

TR

500-650

TE

15-25

SLICE

3 MM

FLIP

140

PHASE

R>L

MATRIX

384X384

FOV

270-290

GAP

10%

NEX(AVRAGE)

2

T2 STIR axial 4mm 270 FOV

Plan the axial slices on the sagittal plane: angle the planning block horizontally across the neck (approximately parallel to the hard palate in a chin-down position). Check the planning  block in the other two planes. An appropriate angle must be given in the coronal plane (perpendicular to the cervical spine). Slices must be sufficient to cover the soft tissue of the neck from the frontal sinus down to the line of the sterno-clavicular joint. The phase direction in the axial scans must be right to left with 100% oversample. This will reduce wrap around, arterial pulsation and swallowing artifacts.

It is important to instruct the patient to avoid swallowing during the sequence acquisition (in our imaging department, we give 30 seconds after each scan for the patient to swallow saliva). This will prevent motion artifacts in the neck during image acquisition. Using saturation bands under the axial block can further reduce arterial pulsation artifacts.

MRI mri soft tissue neck planning and protocol of axial scans

Parameters

TR

6000-7000

TE

110

FLIP

150

NEX

2

SLICE

3 MM

MATRIX

320X320

FOV

270-290

PHASE

R>L

GAP

10%

TI

150

DWI epi2scan trace axial 4mm

Plan the axial slices on the sagittal plane: angle the planning block horizontally across the neck (approximately parallel to the hard palate in a chin-down position). Check the planning block in the other two planes. An appropriate angle must be given in the coronal plane (perpendicular to the cervical spine). Slices must be sufficient to cover the soft tissue of the neck from the frontal sinus down to the line of the sterno-clavicular joint.

Phase direction in the axial scans must be anterior to posterior with the smallest possible phase FOV (i.e., the upper border touching the nose and the lower border touching the spinous process). This is to reduce air-skin interface artifacts in the neck area.

It is important to instruct the patient to avoid swallowing during the sequence acquisition (in our imaging department, we give 30 seconds after each scan for the patient to swallow saliva). This will avoid motion artifacts in the neck during image acquisition.

Parameters

TR

5000-6000

TE

110

FLIP

130

NEX

7

SLICE

5 MM

MATRIX

192X192

FOV

210-230

PHASE

R>L

GAP

10%

B VALUE

0

800

T2 tse sagittal 4mm 280 -300 FOV

Plan the sagittal slices on the coronal plane: angle the planning block parallel to the cervical spine. Check the planning block in the other two planes. An appropriate angle must be given in the axial plane (parallel to the nasal septum). Slices must be sufficient to cover the soft tissue of the neck from the right ear (RT pinna) to the left ear (LT pinna). The field of view (FOV) must be large enough to cover the entire neck from the frontal sinus down to the clavicle.

Phase direction in the sagittal scans must be anterior to posterior with 100% oversample. Giving 100% oversample will help to shift the arterial pulsation and swallowing artifacts away from the area of interest.

It’s very important to instruct the patient to avoid swallowing during the sequence acquisition (in our imaging department, we give 30 seconds after each scan for the patient to swallow saliva). This will prevent motion artifacts in the neck during image acquisition. Using saturation bands under the sagittal block can reduce arterial pulsation artifacts.

Parameters

TR

4000-5000

TE

110

FLIP

130

NEX

2

SLICE

3 MM

MATRIX

384X384

FOV

290-300

PHASE

A>P

GAP

10%

OVERSAMPLE

100%

For post-contrast neck imaging, use VIBE 3D axial sequences after the administration of IV gadolinium DTPA injection. The document below provides access to the recommended dosage of gadolinium DTPA injection as advised by the manufacturer.

T1 VIBE DIXON\SPACE FAT SAT axial .9mm ISOTROPIC

Plan the axial 3D block on the sagittal plane: angle the position horizontally across the neck (approximately parallel to the hard palate in a chin-down position). Check the positioning block in the other two planes. An appropriate angle must be given in the coronal plane (perpendicular to the cervical spine). Slices must be sufficient to cover the soft tissue of the neck from the frontal sinus down to the line of the sterno-clavicular joint.The phase direction in the axial 3D scans can be anterior to posterior with minimal oversampling. This is because the 3D VIBE sequences are less sensitive to flow-related artifacts. 

It is important to instruct the patient to avoid swallowing during the sequence acquisition (in our imaging department, we give 30 seconds after each scan for the patient to swallow saliva). This will prevent motion artifacts in the neck during image acquisition. 

MRI mri soft tissue neck planning and protocol of axial 3D scans

Parameters

TR

6-7

TE

2.39 4.77

SLICE

.9 MM

FLIP

12

PHASE

A>P

MATRIX

288X288

FOV

270-290

GAP

10%

NEX(AVRAGE)

2