Abstract #1279

Towards Clinical MRI Measurements of Gastric Function and Emptying for a Standardised Liquid Nutrient Meal: Validation of Data Acquisition and Analysis.

Caroline L. Hoad¹, Helen Parker², Nicola Hudders², Carolyn Costigan¹, Eleanor F. Cox¹, Luca Marciani², Mark R. Fox², Penelope A. Gowland¹

¹Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom; ²Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centre, NIHR Biomedical Research Unit, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottingham, United Kingdom

This study develops a clinically applicable protocol to assess gastric function using MRI. A 400ml doped nutrient meal was ingested by ten healthy volunteers and their stomachs imaged using an optimised TrueFISP sequence. Total gastric (TGV) and liquid only volumes (LGV) were measured by 3 observers using an intensity based image segmentation algorithm. These volume data were then fitted to a complex model of gastric emptying to parameterize the secretion, relaxation and emptying of the stomach. Coefficients of variance (CV) were determined for the volumes and found to below 5% for all volumes greater than 100 ml.