Diffusion-Weighted Imaging in Body Applications Using the Sliding Multislice Concept with Continuously Moving Table Acquisition

Jochen G. Hirsch¹, ², Alto Stemmer³, Berthold Kiefer³, Matthias Guenther¹, ²

We propose an imaging method for diffusion-weighting (DW) in clinical body applications using the continuously moving table (CMT) approach with sliding multislice (SMS). In contrary to previous approaches that use a single-slice CMT STIR-DW acquisition, we developed a sliding multislice-multishot scheme with SPAIR preparation for efficient and clinically acceptable scan times offering multiple b-values for DW as well as multiple averages for increased signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). This new CMT DW EP sequence is compared to an established static multistation DW protocol clinically used in body applications with respect to diffusion weighting, SNR, artifacts, and scan times.