Lumbar spine MRI at 0.6T

Motivation: Accessible and safe MRI at midfield can make a large difference on patient experience, especially for common complaints such as lower back pain. Goal(s): To assess the feasibility and image quality of lumbar MRI on a 0.6T MRI system including T1-TSE, Dixon T2-TSE and DWI. Approach: Lumbar protocols for 1.5T were adapted for 0.6T to mitigate reduced signal due to the lower field strength and data was acquired in 5 healthy volunteers at 0.6T and 1.5T. Results: Image quality with a 10:56 minute protocol shows comparable quality as images obtained at 1.5T, showing the potential for lumbar MR exams at 0.6T. Impact: This study shows that a complete lumbar MRI protocol can be acquired at 0.6T around 11 minutes of acquisition time, paving the way for future studies in patients, with a special focus for imaging around implants.