High resolution diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging of the pancreas using reduced field of view single-shot echo-planar imaging at 3 T.
Diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) has been mostly acquired using single-shot echo-planar imaging (ss EPI) to minimize motion induced artifacts. The spatial resolution, however, is inherently limited in ss EPI especially for abdominal imaging, even with the advances in parallel imaging. A novel method of reduced Field of View ss EPI (rFOV ss EPI) has achieved high resolution DWI in human carotid artery, spinal cord with reduced blurring and higher spatial resolution than conventional ss EPI, but it has not been used to pancreas imaging. In the work, comparisons between the full FOV ss-DW EPI and rFOV ss-DW EPI in image qualities and ADC values of pancreatic tumors and normal pancreatic tissues were performed to demonstrate the feasibility of pancreatic high resolution rFOV DWI. There were no significant differences in the mean ADC values between full FOV DWI and rFOV DWI for the 17 subjects using b=600s/mm(2) (P=0.962). However, subjective scores of image quality was significantly higher at rFOV ss DWI (P=0.008 and 0.000 for b-value=0s/mm(2) and 600s/mm(2) respectively). The spatial resolution of DWI for pancreas was increased by a factor of over 2.0 (from almost 3.0mm/pixel to 1.25mm/pixel) using rFOV ss EPI technique. Reduced FOV ss EPI can provide good DW images and is promising to benefit applications for pancreatic diseases.
Department of Radiology, Shanghai Changhai Hospital, The Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China.
Chao
C
Ma
Department of Radiology, Shanghai Changhai Hospital, The Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China.
Yan-jun
YJ
Li
Department of Radiology, Shanghai Changhai Hospital, The Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China.
Chun-shu
CS
Pan
MR Group, GE Healthcare, Shanghai, China.
He
H
Wang
Department of Radiology, Shanghai Changhai Hospital, The Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China.
Jian
J
Wang
Department of Radiology, Shanghai Changhai Hospital, The Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China.
Shi-yue
SY
Chen
Department of Radiology, Shanghai Changhai Hospital, The Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China. Electronic address: cjr.lujianping@vip.163.com.
Jian-ping
JP
Lu
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016477:Artifacts; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000473:pathology; D019327:Copper Sulfate / Q000737:chemistry; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D017352:Echo-Planar Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009038:Motion; D015588:Observer Variation; D010179:Pancreas / Q000473:pathology*; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology
D019327:Copper Sulfate
Apparent diffusion coefficient; Diffusion weighted imaging; Magnetic resonance imaging; Pancreas; Reduced field of view