Abstract #0845

Hori M, Nozaki A, Tomoda K, Hirano M, Murakami T, Kim T, Onishi H, Kuwabara M, Nakamura H

The purpose of this study was to determine efficacy of the isotropic diffusion weighted MR sequence using tetrahedral technique in the upper abdomen by comparison with conventional sequence using orthogonal gradients. Twenty patients were included in this study. Images obtained with each technique were subjectively graded based on the signal homogeneity in the liver, image distortion, and overall image quality. Apparent diffusion coefficient values of the liver and the spleen were also calculated. The results were compared between the techniques. The tetrahedral gradient diffusion technique showed significantly better image quality than the conventional orthogonal technique.