Radiology
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

DOI: 10.1148/radiol.2481070034
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by van den Bos, I. C.
Right arrow Articles by Wielopolski, P. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by van den Bos, I. C.
Right arrow Articles by Wielopolski, P. A.
(Radiology 2008;248:264-271.)
© RSNA, 2008

Technical Developments

Liver Imaging at 3.0 T: Diffusion-induced Black-Blood Echo-planar Imaging with Large Anatomic Volumetric Coverage as an Alternative for Specific Absorption Rate–intensive Echo-Train Spin-Echo Sequences: Feasibility Study1

Indra C. van den Bos, MD, PhD, Shahid M. Hussain, MD, PhD 2, Gabriel P. Krestin, MD, PhD, and Piotr A. Wielopolski, PhD

1 From the Department of Radiology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center–Rotterdam, Dr Molewaterplein 40, 3015 GD Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Received January 7, 2007; revision requested February 28; revision received May 1; accepted January 28, 2008; final version accepted January 31. Address correspondence to I.C.v.d.B. (e-mail: vandenbos.ic{at}gmail.com).

Institutional Review Board approval and signed informed consent were obtained by all participants for an ongoing sequence optimization project at 3.0 T. The purpose of this study was to evaluate breath-hold diffusion-induced black-blood echo-planar imaging (BBEPI) as a potential alternative for specific absorption rate (SAR)-intensive spin-echo sequences, in particular, the fast spin-echo (FSE) sequences, at 3.0 T. Fourteen healthy volunteers (seven men, seven women; mean age ± standard deviation, 32.7 years ± 6.8) were imaged for this purpose. Liver coverage (20 cm, z-axis) was always performed in one 25-second breath hold. Imaging parameters were varied interactively with regard to echo time, diffusion b value, and voxel size. Images were evaluated and compared with fat-suppressed T2-weighted FSE images for image quality, liver delineation, geometric distortions, fat suppression, suppression of the blood signal, contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). An optimized short- (25 msec) and long-echo (80 msec) BBEPI provided full anatomic, single breath-hold liver coverage (100 and 50 sections, respectively), with resulting voxel sizes of 3.3 x 2.7 x 2.0 mm and 3.3 x 2.7 x 4.0 mm, respectively. Repetition time was 6300 msec, matrix size was 160 x 192, and an acceleration factor of 2.00 was used. b Values of more than 20 sec/mm2 showed better suppression of the blood signal but b values of 10 sec/mm2 provided improved volume coverage and signal consistency. Compared with fat-suppressed T2-weighted FSE, the optimized BBEPI sequence provided (a) comparable image quality and liver delineation, (b) acceptable geometric distortions, (c) improved suppression of fat and blood signals, and (d) high CNR and SNR. BBEPI is feasible for fast, low-SAR, thin-section morphologic imaging of the entire liver in a single breath hold at 3.0 T.

© RSNA, 2008