Magnetic Resonance Liquid Imaging and Measurement for Normal Inner Ear and Internal Auditory Canal

To observe and measure normal anatomical structure of inner ear and internal auditory canal by imaging inner ear fluid using magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) technique,the difference between left and right ear or between male's and female's by group is analyzed.Volume scans of inner ear and internal auditory canal are performed in 40 patients(80 ears) using MRI three-dimensional fast spin echo(3D-FSE) sequence..Postprocession with three-dimensional volume rendering(3DVR) and multiplanar reconstruction(MPR) are operated to observe and measure several indexes,compared left vs.right ear and male's vs.female's by group for statistical analysis.MRI scan can completely show inner ear and internal auditory canal in all cases and achieve 20 indexes of anatomical structure.There is no significant statistical distinction between left and right ear or between male's and female's by group for 17 indexes,including height,diameter,span,arc length of three semicircular canals,bottom width,and height of cochlea,etc.(P0.05).In contrast,height of lateral semicircular canal,height and arc length of posterior semicircular canal show statistical significance between male's and female's in group(P0.05).MRI 3D-FSE sequence followed by 3DVR and MPR post procession can precisely show structures of inner ear and internal auditory canal,which helps to achieve anatomical indexes accurately.No statistical significance is noted between left and right ear or between male's and female's in group at most indexes.As for 3 indexes showing statistical significance between male's vs.female's by group,further researches and discuss are expected.