title: Technical advancements and protocol optimization of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in liver.
abstract: An area of rapid advancement in abdominal MRI is diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI). By measuring diffusion properties of water molecules, DWI is capable of non-invasively probing tissue properties and physiology at cellular and macromolecular level. The integration of DWI as part of abdominal MRI exam allows better lesion characterization and therefore more accurate initial diagnosis and treatment monitoring. One of the most technical challenging, but also most useful abdominal DWI applications is in liver and therefore requires special attention and careful optimization. In this article, the latest technical developments of DWI and its liver applications are reviewed with the explanations of the technical principles, recommendations of the imaging parameters, and examples of clinical applications. More advanced DWI techniques, including Intra-Voxel Incoherent Motion (IVIM) diffusion imaging, anomalous diffusion imaging, and Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging (DKI) are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, Fuzhou General Hospital, Fuzhou, Fujian, China.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ni
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, Fuzhou General Hospital, Fuzhou, Fujian, China.
authors.forename: Yuning
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, Fuzhou General Hospital, Fuzhou, Fujian, China.
authors.forename: Qun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, Fuzhou General Hospital, Fuzhou, Fujian, China.
authors.forename: Ziqian
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Imaging Science, Indiana University School of Medicine, 950 West Walnut St. R2 E124, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA.
authors.forename: Kumar
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sandrasegaran
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Imaging Science, Indiana University School of Medicine, 950 West Walnut St. R2 E124, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA. clin1@iupui.edu.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*
keywords: Anomalous diffusion; Diffusion kurtosis; Intra-voxel incoherent motion diffusion; Liver diffusion weighted imaging