As Eq. (1) shows, the SNR depends on three factors: the bandwidth, voxel volume, and NSA. However, the SNR does not depend on the other factors related to the sequence, such as T1 and T2. The differences among the results obtained for T1W, T2W, and TSE, which are considered to be the same type, are due to the difference between the quality factor related to the type of scanner used, and the type of RF coil applied. A comparison shows that T1W has a higher SNR than T2W for most of the different MRI scanner vendors investigated [15].
As shown in Fig. 6, for T1W, T2W, and FFE, the ratio is higher than expected in slices where motor artifacts are present. Larger SNR values than anticipated were obtained. This indicates that a reduction in the slice thickness to reduce image artifacts generated by a motor has a lesser effect on decreasing the SNR values. Because this ratio to a certain extent reaches a value of about 90%, we recommend the use of an approximately 3-mm slice thickness when a motor is present within the vicinity of the isocenter.
The differences between experiments and simulation in the TSE and FFE sequences are bigger than in the T1W and T2W sequences (Fig. 6). This is due to the difference between image sequences. The SNR values obtained for TSE and FFE are lower than those for T1W and T2W. Some of the known parameters that may cause this difference are echo time (TE), repetition time (TR), and flip angle. These parameters are significantly different, especially for FFE.
Other factors affecting SNR values include static magnetic field strength, radiofrequency coil, proton density (PD), slice gap, matrix size, field of view, NSA, and parallel imaging. In SNR evaluation for artifact compensation techniques, all these factors were the same for all sequences. Parallel imaging was also avoided.
The use of the double-image method increases the total scanning time by a factor of 2. This method may be susceptible to the MRI’s system drift, in which the quality of the image may change when the scanner is used for a long time. However, because the time between scans was on the order of a few minutes, the system drift was nonsignificant. It has been reported that in the absence of system drifts, this method can be considered the most reliable SNR evaluation technique [14].
Although the single-image method is faster, more clinically common, and more robust to system drift than the double-image method, we used the double-image method because the single-image method is susceptible to subtle artifacts that can interfere with the noise measurements and cause anomalous results. Therefore, because we observed ghost noise in the background, the double-image method was employed for SNR evaluation of images scanned with common clinical specifications. Because double imaging method was avoided when comparing reduction methods, the single-imaging method was used in this case and resulted in significantly reducing the scanning time.
The source of the noise is an eddy current that the MR gradient fields induce in the conductive parts of the motor. Inversely, the motor is able to induce eddy currents in MR metallic components such as the receiver coil. In addition, the motor further induces eddy currents in the MR coil when it is on and the shaft is rotating. The transmission lines of the USM can also induce RF noise. The effect on image degradation when the motor is on has been studied by Chinzei [12]. The current induced by the motor in the scanner body and the receiver coil can be another source of noise.
The important factors affecting the SNR of the images acquired with common clinical specifications were the parallel imaging acquisition, turbo factor, and slice thickness. In these images, the low SNR observed from the first slices, which had signal voids and pileups (Fig. 3), is because of low mean signal values. After these slices, the SNR reaches a steady state value. The SNR decrease in the last few slices is because of the presence of air in the voxels close to the end of the phantom.
The values of the SNR for the z orientation are higher than the other two orientations as the motor is symmetrical to the static magnetic field, thus it perturbs the MRI fields to a lesser extent. This is consistent with other results in the image artifact analysis.
Signal and noise measurements depend significantly on scan parameters and test conditions. Parameters that have been reported to affect the SNR include pulse sequence, BW, slice thickness, and receiver coil [16]. This research, concerned with the effects of the presence of a motor near the image region of interest, shows that slice thickness reduction and bandwidth increment decrease the SNR (Table 3).
Scanning duration is a critical factor for consideration in MRI. There is a trade-off between speed of acquisition and image quality [14]. These factors play an important role in the final image of a specific pulse sequence. For example, FFE is faster than TSE with lower resolution and lower SNR. Increasing the scanning parameters, such as the number of signal averages (NSA), or the turbo factor (number of echoes received during one repetition time), increases the SNR. This enhancement of image quality requires a longer scanning time.
Further analysis is recommended to enhance the compatibility of the motor. Motor-induced image artifacts should be classified, and motor-induced geometric distortions in images should be quantified. In addition, other interactions of the USM and scanner such as the magnetic field’s applied force to the motor and the temperature increase of the motor should be characterized. Smart USMs can be developed by integrating their strong capabilities with enhanced performance to prevent compatibility issues.