[Basic MRI Study in the Imaging Direction of a Diffusion-weighted Whole Body Imaging with Background Body Signal...

Area of Science:

• Radiology and Imaging
• Medical Physics

Context:

• Diffusion-weighted whole body imaging with background body signal suppression (DWIBS) is a valuable tool for whole-body examinations.
• Traditional transverse (Tra) DWIBS scans are lengthy and can suffer from signal unevenness.
• Coronal (Cor) DWIBS scans are faster but known for significant image distortion.

Purpose:

• To evaluate Sagittal (Sag) DWIBS imaging in terms of imaging time, image distortion, fat suppression, and inter-station continuity.
• To compare Sagittal DWIBS with Transverse and Coronal DWIBS acquisition planes.

Summary:

• Phantom studies indicated that Coronal (Cor) had the shortest scan time, while Sagittal (Sag) had the longest.
• Both Sagittal (Sag) and Transverse (Tra) DWIBS demonstrated reduced strain effects compared to Coronal (Cor) when using a rectangular field of view (FOV) in the anterior-posterior (AP) direction.
• No significant differences in fat suppression were observed across imaging directions. Sagittal (Sag) DWIBS showed superior continuity between imaging stations in healthy volunteers.

Impact:

• Sagittal DWIBS presents a viable alternative for whole-body imaging, potentially optimizing scan time and image quality.
• Findings suggest Sagittal DWIBS may offer better spatial integrity and reduce artifacts compared to conventional methods.