Investigative radiology
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Investigative radiology · Feb 2016
Meta Analysis Comparative StudyIntravoxel Incoherent Motion Protocol Evaluation and Data Quality in Normal and Malignant Liver Tissue and Comparison to the Literature.
Although intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) becomes more and more popular, there is currently no clear consensus on the number and distribution of b-values to use. In this work, we (1) tested and evaluated the data quality of a 25-b-value IVIM protocol in patients with malignant liver lesions and normal liver tissue as a standard of reference, (2) calculated an optimal b-value distribution and compared with the standard of reference, and (3) compared the 25-b-value protocol with other proposed protocols in the literature. ⋯ Including more b-values and applying an optimized b-value distribution significantly reduces errors in the IVIM parameter estimates, thereby increasing its accuracy.This effect is even more pronounced in inhomogeneous tumor compared with that in normal liver tissue. However, when restrictions in acquisition time or patient-related factors apply, a minimum of 16 b-values should be considered for reliable results.