Evaluating the effect of a post-processing algorithm in detection of annular fissure on MR imaging

Background and purpose Visualization of annular fissures on MRI is becoming increasingly important but remains challenging. Our purpose was to test whether an image processing algorithm could improve detection of annular fissures. Materials and methods In this retrospective study, two neuroradiologists identified 56 IVDs with annular fissures and 97 IVDs with normal annulus fibrosus in lumbar spine MRIs of 101 patients (58 M, 43 F; age ± SD 15.1 ± 3.0 years). Signal intensities of diseased and normal annulus fibrosus, and contrast-to-noise ratio between them on sagittal T2-weighted images were calculated before and after processing with a proprietary software. Effect of processing on detection of annular fissures by two masked neuroradiologists was also studied for IVDs with Pfirrmann grades of ≤ 2 and > 2. Results Mean (SD) signal baseline intensities of diseased and normal annulus fibrosus were 57.6 (23.3) and 24.4 (7.8), respectively ( p