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Published on: September 7, 2018
Whole-body MRI-based fat quantification: a comparison to air displacement plethysmography
Ute A Ludwig1, Florian Klausmann, Sandra Baumann
1Department of Radiology - Medical Physics, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
Purpose:
To demonstrate the feasibility of an algorithm for MRI whole-body quantification of internal and subcutaneous fat and quantitative comparison of total adipose tissue to air displacement plethysmography (ADP).
Materials And Methods:
For comparison with ADP, whole-body MR data of 11 volunteers were obtained using a continuously moving table Dixon sequence. Resulting fat images were corrected for B1 related intensity inhomogeneities before fat segmentation.
Results:
The performed MR measurements of the whole body provided a direct comparison to ADP measurements. The segmentation of subcutaneous and internal fat in the abdomen worked reliably with an accuracy of 98%. Depending on the underlying model for fat quantification, the resultant MR fat masses represent an upper and a lower limit for the true fat masses. In comparison to ADP, the results were in good agreement with ρ ≥ 0.97, P < 0.0001.
Conclusion:
Whole-body fat quantities derived noninvasively by using a continuously moving table Dixon acquisition were directly compared with ADP. The accuracy of the method and the high reproducibility of results indicate its potential for clinical applications.
