Assessment of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Artefacts Caused by Equine Anaesthesia Equipment: A Cadaver Study.

The research investigated if equine anesthesia equipment affects the quality of results from a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, using a sample of cadavers. It found that the standard anesthetic machines and monitoring did not affect the MRI scan quality thus supporting its use in clinical scenarios.

Research Methods

• The team conducted a prospective, blinded, cadaver study to assess the impact of anaesthesia equipment on the quality of MRI scans.
• They chose seven conditions for the study: using Tafonius machine as in clinical cases, Tafonius on the boundaries of the controlled area, anaesthetic monitoring only, using Mallard anaesthetic machine, using Bird ventilator, complete electronic silence in the room (negative control), and source of electronic interference (positive control).
• A total of 78 MRI sequences were obtained using a 0.31T equine MRI scanner under these conditions.

Assessing Image Quality

• The images gathered under each of the above conditions were evaluated and scored based on a 4-point scoring system, where 1 represented no pretense of artefacts and 4 represented major artefacts, the presence of which would necessitate repetition of the scan in a real-world clinical setting.
• STIR fat suppression was improperly achieved in many images (16 out of 26).

Results and Findings

• The study used ordinal logistic regression to analyze the results and found that there were no statistically significant differences in image quality between the negative control and either of the Tafonius-related conditions.
• Similarly, there were no significant differences in image quality with the use of Tafonius as compared to the other anaesthetic machines.
• The notable exceptions were the positive control groups which showed statistically significant differences in image quality scores compared to both the Tafonius and non-Tafonius equipment groups.
• The research hence concluded that the usage of anesthesia machines and monitoring does not impact the quality of MRI scans.
• This supports the use of advanced anaesthesia machinery like Tafonius during MRI scans in live horses within a clinical context with a 0.31T MRI system.