Abstract #2354

Merkle E, Franklin K, Dale B

Brief synopsis: Our study evaluated the quantitative and qualitative impact of a radiofrequency cushion on 3T abdominal MRI. Twenty healthy volunteers were imaged, with and without the cushion, using multiplanar T2-weighted HASTE and true-FISP sequences, with and without parallel imaging. Quantitative analysis demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in hepatic SNR on coronal T2-weighted HASTE images with the cushion. Qualitative analysis showed a significant decrease of dielectric artifacts on coronal T2-weighted HASTE images. Findings did not correlate with the volunteer? body mass index. In addition, the radiofrequency cushion did not have any substantial quantitative or qualitative impact on true-FISP images.