With 3 Types of Respiratory Acquisition: 3.0 T Respiratory Triggered Acquisition Can Obtain Higher Quality DWI Images of the Upper Abdomen

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effects of 1.5 T and 3.0 T upper abdominal magnetic resonance diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) under three acquisition techniques of breath holding, breath triggering, and free breathing, so as to provide a reference for the usage of upper abdominal DWI scanning. METHODS: Twenty-one healthy subjects were selected from social volunteers and underwent routine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and DWI on 1.5 T and 3.0 T, respectively. DWI included three acquisition methods: breath triggering, breath holding, and free breathing, and b values were 100 and 800. The DWI image artifacts, image quality, apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) obtained through the three acquisition methods were compared. RESULTS: The 1.5 T free-breathing DWI image quality was the best, while the 3.0 T had the best breath-triggered DWI image quality. The 3.0 T breath-triggered DWI image quality was better than the 1.5 T free-breathing DWI image (P=0.012), and the SNR of free-breathing DWI was the highest. Between the two field intensities, the SNR of the liver in the 3.0 T group was much lower than that in the 1.5 T group, and obvious differences were not observed in ADC values of normal liver, gallbladder, kidney, spleen, and pancreas. CONCLUSION: 3.0 T respiratory-triggered acquisition can obtain higher quality DWI images. But in the case of only 1.5 T field strength, free-breathing acquisition of DWI images should be selected.