Current status of body MR imaging: fast MR imaging and diffusion-weighted imaging

The recent technical advances in fast MR imaging have greatly enhanced the clinical value of MR imaging of the body. Advances in T(1)-weighted images have enabled the acquisition of dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging, which is currently central to hepatic MR imaging for detection and characterization of liver tumors and is also useful for the evaluation of myometrial invasion in uterine cor-pus cancer. Advances in rapid T(2)-weighted MR imaging with single-shot fast spin-echo images have enabled MR cholangiopancreatography and MR urography. Application of respiratory triggering can also provide T(2)-weighted images of high quality. Cine MR imaging utilizing ultrafast MR sequences enables the assessment of the respiratory motion of the lung for evaluating thoracic wall invasion by tumors. Diffusion-weighted images can provide excellent tissue contrast based on molecular diffusion and have the potential to demonstrate malignant tumors. Quantitative measurement of apparent diffusion coefficient values may also be valuable in distinguishing malignancies from benign lesions.