Higher field reduced FOV diffusion-weighted imaging for abdominal imaging at 5.0 Tesla: image quality evaluation compared with 3.0 Tesla

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the image quality of reduced field-of-view (rFOV) DWI for abdominal imaging at 5.0 Tesla (T) compared with 3.0 T. METHODS: Fifteen volunteers were included into this prospective study. All the subjects underwent the 3.0 T and 5.0 T MR examinations (time interval: 2 ± 1.9 days). Free-breathing (FB), respiratory-triggered (RT), and navigator-triggered (NT) spin-echo echo-planner imaging-based rFOV-DWI examinations were conducted at 3.0 T and 5.0 T (FB(3.0 T), NT(3.0 T), RT(3.0 T), FB(5.0 T), NT(5.0 T), and RT(5.0 T)) with two b values (b = 0 and 800 s/mm(2)), respectively. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of different acquisition approaches were determined and statistically compared. The image quality was assessed and statistically compared with a 5-point scoring system. RESULTS: The SNRs of any 5.0 T DWI images were significantly higher than those of any 3.0 T DWI images for same anatomic locations. Moreover, 5.0 T rFOV-DWIs had the significantly higher sharpness scores than 3.0 T rFOV-DWIs. Similar distortion scores were observed at both 3.0 T and 5.0 T. Finally, RT(5.0 T) displayed the best overall image quality followed by NT(5.0 T), FB(5.0 T), RT(3.0 T), NT(3.0 T) and FB(3.0 T) (RT(5.0 T) = 3.9 ± 0.3, NT(5.0 T) = 3.8 ± 0.3, FB(5.0 T) = 3.4 ± 0.3, RT(3.0 T) = 3.2 ± 0.4, NT(3.0 T) = 3.1 ± 0.4, and FB(3.0 T) = 2.7 ± 0.4, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The 5.0 T rFOV-DWI showed better overall image quality and improved SNR compared to 3.0 T rFOV-DWI, which holds clinical potential for identifying the abdominal abnormalities in routine practice. CRITICAL RELEVANCE STATEMENT: This study provided evidence that abdominal 5.0 Tesla reduced field of view diffusion-weighted imaging (5.0 T rFOV-DWI) exhibited enhanced image quality and higher SNR compared to its 3.0 Tesla counterparts, holding clinical promise for accurately visualizing abdominal abnormalities. KEY POINTS: • rFOV-DWI was firstly integrated with high-field-MRI for visualizing various abdominal organs. • This study indicated the feasibility of abdominal 5.0 T-rFOV-DWI. • Better image quality was identified for 5.0 T rFOV-DWI. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text]