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Dual‐source parallel RF transmission for diffusion‐weighted imaging of the abdomen using different b values: Image quality and apparent diffusion coefficient comparison with conventional single‐source transmission
Author(s) -
Guo Lijun,
Liu Cheng,
Chen Weibo,
Chan Queenie,
Wang Guangbin
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of magnetic resonance imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.563
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1522-2586
pISSN - 1053-1807
DOI - 10.1002/jmri.23869
Subject(s) - image quality , medicine , effective diffusion coefficient , homogeneity (statistics) , nuclear medicine , radiology , magnetic resonance imaging , mathematics , statistics , computer science , image (mathematics) , artificial intelligence
Purpose: To prospectively and intraindividually evaluate what effects dual‐source parallel radiofrequency (RF) transmission have on image quality and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of abdomen diffusion‐weighted imaging (DWI) using different b values, compared with the single‐source RF transmission. Materials and Methods: Eighteen healthy male volunteers were enrolled in this Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)‐compliant Institutional Review Board (IRB)‐approved study. Abdominal DWI was performed with dual‐source and single‐source RF transmission at 3.0 T using a series of b‐value combinations: 0/100, 0/500, 0/800, and 0/100/800. RF field homogeneity, subjective image quality, and signal to noise ratio (SNR) of each abdominal organ were evaluated. ADC values were calculated for each abdominal organ. Wilcoxon test and repeated‐measures analysis of variance was used to calculate statistical significance. Results: The parallel RF transmission significantly improved homogeneity of the RF field ( P = 0.0001–0.008) and subjective image quality ( P < 0.0001) at each b value and also increased SNR. At lower and higher b value, the measured ADC of lateral left hepatic lobe and spleen between dual‐source and single‐source images were significantly different ( P = 0.0001–0.047). At b = 0/500, there was no significant difference in ADC measurements between dual‐source and single‐source RF transmission for abdominal organs, except a slight statistically significant difference for spleen ( P = 0.047). Conclusion: Parallel RF transmission significantly improved the image quality and homogeneity of the RF field. The RF transmission had a significant influence on measured ADC of lateral left hepatic lobe and spleen. At b = 0/500 the influence was minimum for all abdominal organs. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2013;37:875–885. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.