T1-WEIGHTED SEQUENCES FOR MR IMAGING OF THE LIVER - COMPARISON OF 3 TECHNIQUES FOR SINGLE-BREATH, WHOLE-VOLUME ACQUISITION AT 1.0-T AND 1.5-T

The authors compared three T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging techniques that acquire images encompassing the entire liver in one breath hold. Twenty healthy volunteers were imaged-10 at 1.0 T and 10 at 1.5 T-and the results compared with those of regular short repetition time/echo time spin-echo imaging. Rapid acquisition spin echo was resistant to artifacts and had good image quality but had the lowest liver signal-difference-to-noise (SD/N) values. Fast low-angle shot (FLASH) had the highest S/N and SD/N, very good image quality, and only mild artifacts. TurboFLASH had good S/N and SD/N, but reduced matrix size decreased image quality. All three sequences had better SD/N than regular spin echo, and FLASH and TurboFLASH had higher S/N. On the basis of this study, the FLASH sequence appears the most attractive for T1-weighted breath-hold imaging.