Can homogeneous preparation encoding (HoPE) help reduce scan time in abdominal MRI? A clinical evaluation.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate time efficiency, image quality, and diagnostic value of a clinical routine homogeneous preparation encoding (HoPE) imaging protocol in different malign and inflammatory abdominal conditions.


METHODS
A total of 14 healthy volunteers and 40 patients were examined after written informed consent and approval of the local ethics committee. A standard abdominal T1-weighted (T1W) fat-saturated gradient-echo protocol was compared to the HoPE sequence protocol ensuring for comparable imaging parameters. Examinations were performed on a 1.5-T Siemens Avanto equipped with a multichannel body-array coil. Image analysis was performed with respect to contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), level of fat suppression (FS), generation of artifacts, and overall image quality by two blinded radiologists.


RESULTS
In addition to comparable results in overall image quality and FS level, the HoPE sequence protocol provided a reduction in acquisition time of up to 40%. In addition, artifact generation was same or even reduced with respect to pulsation. Quantitative SNR analysis showed strong correlation between HoPE and the conventional method.


CONCLUSIONS
The HoPE technique is a feasible and time-saving alternative for clinical abdominal MRI. Future studies will have to be conducted on larger patient collectives to strengthen the impact of this promising technique for FS imaging and to prove its accuracy.
Paul
Dominik
D
Department of Diagnostic Radiology - Medical Physics, University Hospital Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany. dominik.paul@uniklinik-freiburg.de
Frydrychowicz
Alex
A
Walcher
Jens
J
Fautz
Hans-Peter
HP
Hennig
Jürgen
J
Langer
Matthias
M
Schäfer
Oliver
O
D000005:Abdomen / Q000473:pathology*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016477:Artifacts; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007249:Inflammation; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results