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Updated: Jun 29, 2025
Registered Bioimaging of Nanomaterials for Diagnostic and Therapeutic Monitoring
Published on: December 9, 2010
Second-Order Motion-Compensated Echo-Planar Cardiac Diffusion-Weighted MRI: Usefulness of Compressed Sensitivity
Rui Chen1,2, Ruohong Luo1,2,3, Yongzhou Xu4
1Department of Radiology, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital (Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences), Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
Background:
Cardiac diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) using second-order motion-compensated spin echo (M2C) can provide noninvasive in-vivo microstructural assessment, but limited by relatively low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Echo-planar imaging (EPI) with compressed sensitivity encoding (EPICS) could address these issues.
Purpose:
To combine M2C DWI and EPCIS (M2C EPICS DWI), and compare image quality for M2C DWI.
Study Type:
Prospective.
Population:
Ten ex-vivo hearts, 10 healthy volunteers (females, 5 [50%]; mean ± SD of age, 25 ± 4 years), and 12 patients with diseased hearts (female, 1 [8.3%]; mean ± SD of age, 44 ± 16 years; including coronary artery heart disease, congenital heart disease, dilated cardiomyopathy, amyloidosis, and myocarditis).
Field Strength/Sequence:
3-T, M2C EPICS DWI, and M2C DWI.
Assessment:
The apparent SNR (aSNR) and the rating scores were used to evaluate and compared image quality of all three groups. The aSNR was calculated using , and the myocardium was segmented manually. Three observers independently rated subjective image quality using a 5-point Likert scale.
Statistical Tests:
Bland-Altman analysis and paired t-tests. The threshold for statistical significance was set at P < 0.05.
Results:
In healthy volunteers, the aSNR with a b-value of 450 s/mm2 acquired by M2C EPICS DWI was significantly higher than M2C DWI at in-plane resolutions of 3.0 × 3.0, 2.5 × 2.5, and 2.0 × 2.0 mm2. In patients with diseased hearts, the aSNR ofM2C EPICS DWI was also significantly higher than that for M2C DWI (bias of M2C EPICS-M2C = 1.999, 95% limits of agreement, 0.362 to 3.636; mean ± SD, 7.80 ± 1.37 vs. 5.80 ± 0.81). The ADC values of M2C EPICS was significantly higher than M2C DWI in in-vivo hearts. Over 80% of the images with rating scores for M2C EPICS DWI were higher than M2C DWI in in-vivo hearts.
Data Conclusion:
Cardiac imaging by M2C EPICS DWI may demonstrate better overall image quality and higher aSNR than M2C DWI.
Evidence Level:
2 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 1.
