Feasibility of routine brain imaging at 0.55T: initial experience in a clinical workflow

The purpose of this study is to assess the quality of brain imaging studies performed on an FDA-approved commercial 0.55T MRI system, and to provide information about the feasibility of using this scanner in a clinical workflow. The image quality of 1356 image series (378 in healthy subjects, 978 in patients) was independently rated by two neuroradiologists. While images from T1w SPACE, DWI/ADC, FLAIR, SWI, and T2w TSE sequences received acceptable image quality scores, contrast-enhanced T1w TSE sequence received lower, although acceptable, average scores. Our results suggest that neurological MRI studies for some indications can be performed at 0.55T.