Image quality stability of whole-body diffusion weighted imaging

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Radiology
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Whole-body diffusion weighted imaging (WB-DWI) is an emerging technique for comprehensive body assessment.
• Assessing the reproducibility of WB-DWI is crucial for its clinical translation.
• Optimizing WB-DWI protocols, including breathing techniques and signal suppression, is essential for reliable results.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the reproducibility of whole-body diffusion weighted imaging (WB-DWI) in healthy volunteers.
• To assess the reliability of bone apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and exponential ADC (eADC) measurements using WB-DWI.
• To determine the adequacy of WB-DWI performed under normal breathing with background body signal suppression.

Main Methods:

• WB-DWI was performed twice within two weeks on 32 healthy volunteers.
• A short TI inversion-recovery diffusion-weighted echo-planar imaging sequence with a built-in body coil was used.
• Bone ADC and eADC were measured in regions of interest (ROIs) across six continuous body stations, with data analyzed using paired t-tests.

Main Results:

• Data from 64 WB-DWI scans were analyzed, showing no significant difference in bone ADC and eADC values between paired observers and scans (P>0.05).
• Measurements of bone apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and exponential ADC (eADC) demonstrated good reproducibility across 824 regions of interest.
• The majority of images acquired from all body stations were of diagnostic quality.

Conclusions:

• Bone ADC and eADC measurements using WB-DWI exhibit good reproducibility.
• The WB-DWI technique, when performed under normal breathing with background body signal suppression, is adequate for clinical application.
• WB-DWI shows promise as a reliable imaging modality for whole-body assessment.