MR Gaucher Research Protocol

Scan Notes:

First, look in the order to see which order has been requested. There are TWO RIS order versions for this exam:

  • Research: will also be called the Actelion Gaucher Study (Perform only on Room 1)
  • Diagnostic: (Perform on either Room 1 or 2)
     
  • The entire protocol is the same regardless of whether or not the exam is a research study or not.
  • The only difference is which scanner it is performed on.
  • The Abdomen scans are breath-holds. You can change parameters as needed to get a single acquisition. HOWEVER - you CANNOT change the slice thickness / gap. (The slice thickness/gap need to add up to 10 - i.e. 8 skip 2, 9 skip 1, etc.) When done let CT know that you need liver volumes calculated on this subject.
  • The protocols are found in the research folder.
  • We don't always do all four of these (e.g. sometimes they don't do the pelvis sequences), so just perform the stations as ordered.
  • The total scan time for all 4 stations is about an hour to an hour and a half, but our schedulers like to put these in much longer blocks and tell the patients it's like 4 hours. So make sure the subject knows it's fairly short.

Last updated: 4/12/19
Charge as: Charge for what you scan: Abdomen / Pelvis / Femur / L-spine WO, "No protocol required"
Scanner preference: MR1 or MR2 only. These are never performed at CHH.
Coil: torso array coil and spine coil 

Sequence Weighting Change Parameters? Change # slices? Coverage/ Angulation Notes
Abdomen - Torso Coil
AX T1 TR only YES Angle as normal, be sure to cover the entire mass/tumor/pit
AX T1 TR only YES Angle as normal, be sure to cover the entire mass/tumor/pit
MR Gaucher Research Protocol-img 1

Notes: These scans are breath-holds. You can change parameters as needed to get a single acquisition. HOWEVER - you CAN NOT change the slice thickness / gap. (The slice thickness/gap need to add up to 10 - i.e. 8 skip 2, 9 skip 1, etc.) When done let CT know that you need liver volumes calculated on this subject.

Sequence Weighting Change Parameters? Change # slices? Coverage/ Angulation
Pelvis - Torso Coil
COR STIR YES YES Cover Pelvis - Iliac Crest through lesser Trochantors. Skin to Skin A to P.
COR T1 YES YES Cover Pelvis - Iliac Crest through lesser Trochantors. Skin to Skin A to P.
AX T1 YES YES Cover Pelvis - Iliac Crest through lesser Trochantors. Skin to Skin A to P.
AX T2 + fatsat YES YES Cover Pelvis - Iliac Crest through lesser Trochantors. Skin to Skin A to P.
MR Gaucher Research Protocol-img 2
  • You can change the number of slices, TR, FoV, etc. to get scan into a single acquisition.
  • DO NOT CHANGE SLICE THICKNESS OR GAP.
Sequence Weighting Change Parameters? Change # slices? Coverage/ Angulation
Femur - Torso Coil
COR T1 YES YES Cover from hip joint to knee joint in a single FoV
COR T2 YES YES Cover from hip joint to knee joint in a single FoV
COR STIR YES YES Cover from hip joint to knee joint in a single FoV
MR Gaucher Research Protocol-img3
  • Must cover entire femur (including femoral head and femoral condyles – it’s okay if femoral heads are only imaged on the pelvic portion of the exam, if a dedicated Pelvis MR was also done). This is because the grading system takes marrow signal in both the proximal and distal femora into account.
  • You can change the number of slices, TR, FoV, etc. to get scan into a single acquisition.
  • DO NOT CHANGE SLICE THICKNESS OR GAP.
Sequence Weighting Change Parameters? Change # slices? Coverage/ Angulation
Lumbar Spine- Spine Coil
SAG T1 YES YES Cover from T12 to S1.
SAG T2 YES YES Cover from T12 to S1.
MR Gaucher Research Protocol-img4
  • You can change the number of slices, TR, FoV, etc. to get scan into a single acquisition.
  • DO NOT CHANGE SLICE THICKNESS OR GAP.