Whole-body 3D water/fat resolved continuously moving table imaging.
OBJECTIVE
To study the feasibility of three-dimensional (3D) whole-body, head-to-toe, water/fat resolved MRI, using continuously moving table imaging technology.


METHODS
Experiments were performed on nine healthy volunteers, acquiring 3D whole-body head-to-toe data under continuous motion of the patient table. Two different approaches for water/fat separation have been studied. Results of a three-point chemical shift encoding and a spectral presaturation technique were compared with respect to image quality and performance. Furthermore, fast, low-resolution, whole-body water/fat imaging was performed in two minutes total scan time to derive patient-specific parameters such as the total water/fat ratio, the intraperitoneal/extraperitoneal fat ratio, and the body mass index (BMI).


RESULTS
Good water/fat separation with decent image quality was obtained in all cases. The three-point chemical shift encoding approach was found to be more efficient with respect to signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and acquisition time.


CONCLUSIONS
Whole-body water/fat sensitive MRI using continuous table motion is feasible and could be of interest for clinical practice. Some improvements of the method are desirable.
Börnert
Peter
P
Philips Research Laboratories Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany. Peter.Boernert@philips.com
Keupp
Jochen
J
Eggers
Holger
H
Aldefeld
Bernd
B
D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D000328:Adult; D001827:Body Height / Q000502:physiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001834:Body Water; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D017352:Echo-Planar Imaging / Q000379:methods; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D009038:Motion; D012016:Reference Values; D013997:Time Factors; D051598:Whole Body Imaging / Q000379:methods*