Impact of Field Strength and Respiratory Motion Control on Diffusion-Weighted MR Imaging of the Liver

Johanna Berg, Sven Månsson, Jonas Svensson, Olle Ekberg, Markus F. Müller

Medical Radiation Physics, Lund University, Malm?, Sweden.
Medical Radiology, Lund University, Malm?, Sweden.
Sk?ne University Hospital, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Malm?, Sweden.

DOI: 10.4236/ojmi.2013.31005                

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of field strength and respiratory motion control on diffusion-weighted MR imaging (DWI) of the liver at 1.5 and 3 T. Material and Methods: Three DWI sequences using seven b-values from 20 - 400 s/mm² were designed with identical parameters but with different handling of respiratory motion [respiratory triggered (RT), free breathing (FB), breath hold (BH)] on 3 T and 1.5 T. Thirteen volunteers were examined at a 3 T and six of them also at a 1.5 T magnet. DW images were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Regions of interest were placed in cranial, middle and caudal parts of the right liver lobe (RLL) and ADC and SNR were calculated. Results: ADC in RLL tended to be lower at 3 T MRI. Least inter-subject ADC variability was found with RT in the middle RLL at 3 T. Highest ADCs were found caudally in the RLL. Significant differences in ADC between middle and caudal RLL were calculated in FB and RT at 3 T and FB and BH at 1.5 T, respectively. No significant difference in SNR was found between 3 T and 1.5 T. There were significantly more artifacts in the left liver lobe (LLL) compared to the RLL in all sequences and in the LLL at 3 T compared to 1.5 T. Conclusion: Our study suggests that longitudinal hepatic ADC measurements should be performed using equivalent field strength, b-values, and acquisition technique, given influence of these factors on ADC measurements.

Keywords

Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Diffusion; Echo-Planar Imaging; 3 T; Liver; Respiratory Motion

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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