Partial volume effect in MRI
A voxel that holds two tissues shows the average of both. Small structures blur or disappear.
Partial volume
Small structures look faint, blurred, or disappear; a lesion edge looks indistinct; signal looks intermediate between two tissues.
One voxel contains more than one tissue and displays their average.
- Thinner slices
- Slices perpendicular to the structure of interest
- 3D isotropic acquisition with reformats
Thinner slices lower SNR and need more slices for the same coverage.
This page is one entry from the MRI Technologist Reference
The full reference has 31 protocols, 9 dynamic study timelines, 19 artifacts, 16 scanner problems and 15 safety topics, as a PDF in English and Arabic plus an interactive tool.
Educational reference. It does not replace your site protocols, the radiologist's instructions, the MR safety officer, or the manufacturer's instructions for any implant, device or contrast agent. Parameter values are typical starting points at 1.5 T and must be adapted to the scanner, coil and patient.