TABLE 2.

Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) Calculated from the MRI Images of the Three Sequences, for the Different Regions in the IVD

Sequence	Tissues	Mean SNR (±SD) Considering all the Imaged Samples	Mean SNR (±SD) Excluding Samples with Major Fissures
2D PD TSE sagittal	Nucleus	35.5 (±3.7)	31.1 (±3.8)
	Anterior annulus	37.8 (±22.9)	25.7 (±13.1)
	Posterior annulus	27.3 (±4.5)	29.7 (±2.3)
	Vertebral bone region	39.2 (±4.9)	36.4 (±0.9)
2D T2-weighted TSE fat saturated sagittal	Nucleus	14.6 (±4.5)	12.1 (±1.5)
	Anterior annulus	11.3 (±9.1)	6.1 (±2.5)
	Posterior annulus	6.3 (±3.7)	8.0 (±3.2)
	Vertebral bone region	12.1 (±0.5)	12.1 (±0.6)
3D GE (FLASH) sagittal	Nucleus	20.8 (±4.5)	18.6 (±3.6)
	Anterior annulus	35.4 (±16.8)	20.8 (±9.8)
	Posterior annulus	17.6 (±1.4)	17.6 (±2.0)
	Vertebral bone region	8.4 (±0.7)	8.6 (±0.9)

Standard deviation (SD) of the calculated values is indicated within the brackets.