Diffusion-weighted Imaging of the Abdomen during a Single Breath-hold Using Simultaneous-multislice Echo-planar Imaging

Purpose: This multi-scanner study aimed to investigate the validity of single breath-hold (BH) diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) using simultaneous-multislice (SMS) echo-planar imaging in multiple abdominal organs to enable faster acquisition and reliable quantification of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC). Methods: SNR, geometric distortion (GD), and ADC in a phantom; the ADC in the liver, renal cortex, paraspinal muscle, spleen, and pancreas; and the signal intensity ratio of the portal vein-to-muscle (SIR(PV-M)) in healthy volunteers were compared between BH- and respiratory-triggered (RT) DWI with b-values of 0 and 800 s/mm(2) in two different MRI scanners. Results: The phantom study showed that the SNR of BH-DWI was significantly lower than that of the RT-DWI (P < 0.05 for both scanners), whereas the GD and ADC of BH-DWI did not differ significantly from those of the RT-DWI (P = 0.09–0.60). In the volunteer study, the scan times were 23 seconds for BH-DWI and 184±33 seconds for RT-DWI, respectively. The ADC of the liver in BH-DWI was significantly lower than that in RT-DWI (P < 0.05 for both scanners), whereas there were no significant differences in the ADCs of the renal cortex, paraspinal muscle, spleen, or pancreas between BH-DWI and RT-DWI (P = 0.07–0.86). The SIR(PV-M) in BH-DWI was significantly smaller than in RT-DWI (P < 0.05 for both scanners). Conclusion: The proposed method enables the acquisition of abdominal diffusion-weighted images in a single BH.