The effectiveness of softtone application on decreasing sound pressure level at various sequences 3 tesla MRI system

This research aims to determine the level of noise reduction in various MRI 3 Tesla sequences by implementing the Softone application. By comprehending the functionality of the application in noise reduction, researchers can recommend selecting this application with Softtone factors options as a measure to safeguard auditory organs, in addition to employing protective equipment for the patient's hearing organ to mitigate potential hearing system injuries. In the entire process of generating Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) images, three types of Electromagnetic Waves are utilized: Static magnetic, Gradient magnetic and Radiofrequency. Each wave has its side effects and one of the Gradient magnetic wave effects is Acoustic Noise (Sound Pressure Level). The Sound Pressure Level is influenced by the strength of the static magnetic field (in Tesla) and the energy of the gradient magnetic wave which operates based on the type of working sequence. Each MRI System has an intrinsic sound suppressor that can be turned on during the generating image process. Indeed, this silencer application is selective because this application will require several changes in sequence parameters when it is working, due to also changing image quality, image visualization and the time or duration of the examination. The research method is quantitative research, in which the measurement of sound pressure level will be carried out on some number of various sequences (11 sequences, 74 data taken from 74 different softtone factors) using a 200 mm Phantom Head and Head Coil 3 Tesla Philips Ingenia MRI System, with 127.8 MHz radiofrequency with various levels of the Softtone application (1-5, interval 0.5 for each factor). The collected data were analyzed with the Pearson Correlation Statistic test and got the sign two tailed 0.001 < 0.005. Then releasing the Pearson coefficient above 0.9 in 9 sequences means the variables have a very high correlation, 1 sequence (DIR) has a 0.7 coeffiecient means the Softtone factor has a high correlation to Sound Pressure Level and 1 sequence (SE-EPI) has no correlation between Softtone factor and Sound Pressure Level. Besides, we also set the binomial formulas for each sequence, except SE-EPI. The most important parameter That relate to soft tone are the soft tone factor which shows how strong is the software will applied and the Gradient mode which has condition that the software can work in the Regular mode. The conclusion from this study is there is a relationship between SoftTone and the Sound Pressure Level and from the results of the research conducted, it is recommended to activate this application, especially in sequences that can activate softtone applications to reduce the sound pressure level and as the protection for patient's hearing organ. From the 11 Sequences the most effective result of softtone software work at Double Invertion recovery which has the highest Sound Pressure Level and the most effective decreased Noise at 49.1%.