Assesment of Liver Blood Flow using a Navigator Echo Respiratory Gated Parallel Imaging Technique at 1.5 T

Loredana Sorina Truica^1,2, Ian Cameron²

IVIM measurements of normal liver at 1.5 T using a respiratory triggered DW_SS_EPI as well as a DW_SS_EPI breath hold protocol are reported. Improvements in the acquisition and analysis techniques used in this study allowed us to obtain more consistent results for the perfusion fraction, f, the diffusion coefficient, D, and the pseudo-diffusion coefficient, D*, than previous studies. Parameter maps of D and f were reflective of liver anatomy. Such maps can be useful tools in identifying tissue differences and give important insight into the organ hemodynamic system. This technique could become instrumental in the assessment and management of normal/diseased tissue in abdomen.