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Abstract #1679

Comparison of Breath-Hold and Free-Breathing Techniques for Fat Fraction and R2* Quantification in the Liver

Elizabeth Stamou1,2, Jothi Venkatesh3, Alice L Mitchell4, Madeleine Reid2, Aliyah Amin2, Aleck WE Jones4, Philippa Bridgen2, Radhouene Neji2, and Catherine Williamson4
1Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom, 2King's College London, London, United Kingdom, 3Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom, 4Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom

Synopsis

Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, Motion Correction, Free breathing, breath-hold, Dixon, liver disease

Motivation: Fat fraction (FF) and R2* measurements can be used as a non-invasive alternative to liver biopsies in patients with liver disease.

Goal(s): To evaluate the performance of breath-hold (BH) and free-breathing (FB) MRI techniques for quantifying liver FF and R2* values.

Approach: 19 healthy controls were scanned to acquire FF and R2* measurements using both BH and FB techniques. Signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio was measured in a subset of participants.

Results: The FB technique, which improves patient comfort, demonstrated significantly higher SNR ratios. It presents as a promising tool for the early detection of liver diseases, once challenges like segmentation inaccuracies are addressed.

Impact: This study demonstrates that both BH and FB techniques effectively quantify liver fat and iron, with FB offering higher SNR and reduced motion artefacts. However, variability in R2* values highlights the need for improved segmentation and protocol refinement.

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Keywords