• Jie Deng, Frank H Miller, Riad Salem, Reed A Omary, and Andrew C Larson.
• Department of Radiology, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois 60611, USA.
• Invest Radiol. 2006 Oct 1; 41 (10): 769-75.

ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of using multishot PROPELLER for diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) of the abdomen.Materials And MethodsDiffusion-weighted abdominal imaging was performed in 9 healthy volunteers and 3 patients using both single-shot DW-SE-EPI and multishot DW-PROPELLER (BLADE sequence). We compared ADC measurements in phantoms, liver and pancreatic tissues and performed qualitative comparisons of the diffusion-weighted images and ADC maps provided by these 2 techniques.ResultsDW-PROPELLER significantly improved image quality (P < 0.05) with reduced geometric distortion and artifact. The ADC values of phantoms and abdominal organs measured by DW-PROPELLER were generally greater than those measured by single-shot DW-SE-EPI. The ADC values measured by both DWI techniques were significantly different for liver tissues but not for pancreatic tissues (P < 0.05). Preliminary patient studies demonstrated clearly distinguished lesion areas from surrounding normal liver tissues in the DW-PROPELLER images. DW-PROPELLER offers the potential for high-resolution DWI of the abdomen.ConclusionsThe multishot DW-PROPELLER sequence is a promising technique for DWI of abdominal organs. Future clinical studies will evaluate the use of DW-PROPELLER technique for abdominal oncologic imaging applications.

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