Elisa Placidi1, C L. Hoad1, L Marciani2, E F. Cox1, S Pritchard1, C Costigan3, R C. Spiller2, P A. Gowland1
1SPMMRC, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK; 2Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centre Biomedical Research Unit, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK; 3Brain and Body Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
MRI was used to investigate and quantify the changes in colonic and small bowel water content following a mannitol drink, a laxative known to induce small bowel secretions. Five healthy volunteers were imaged on a 1.5 T Philips Achieva scanner with several sequences to assess changes in water content in the ascending colon in terms of water volume, T2, and image signal intensity. Increases in water content in the bowel from the mannitol drink resulted in more homogeneous signal intensity in the colon compared to the undisturbed state, with T2s higher than those measured in the colon after just water.