Clinical Application of Free-Breathing 3D Ultra-Short Echo Time Sequences to Detect Lung Nodules

Motivation: MSCT, used to examine lung nodules, poses ionizing radiation risks, hindering long-term follow-up; thus, MRI and ultra-short echo time (UTE) are preferable. Goal(s): We compared UTE with MSCT to provide a non-radiative lung nodule examination protocol. Approach: Two radiologists interpreted the UTE images; another radiologist matched them one-to-one with the MSCT results. Results: UTE's sensitivity was 88% for detecting solid nodules ≥4 mm and 100% for subsolid nodules ≥8 mm. MSCT and UTE measured similar average nodule diameters. Lung-RADS v2022 classifications were consistent between both methods. UTE may be a radiation-free alternative for examining lung nodules. Impact: UTE, an emerging non-radiative examination protocol, demonstrates great potential in detecting, diagnosing, and providing short-term follow-up of lung nodules and is poised to become an important tool for early screening and diagnosis of lung cancer.