Abstract：Objective: To investigate the artifact and SNR of normal pancreas among different DWI sequences on 3.0T MR scanner. Methods: Thirty normal volunteers underwent conventional T1WI, T2WI with Fatsat., MRCP, DWI and non-enhanced LAVA on 3.0T. Based on SE-EPI sequence and b values=0 and 600 s/mm2, DWI sequences included breath-hold DWI with MPG pulses in X, Y, Z direction(BH600ALL), breath-hold DWI with MPG pulses in Z direction(BH600SI), respiratory-triggered DWI with MPG pulses in X, Y, Z direction(TRIG600), respiratory-triggered DWI with MPG pulses in X, Y, Z direction and inversion recovery for fat saturation(TRIG600+BS), free-breathing DWI with MPG pulses in X, Y, Z direction and inversion recovery for fat saturation(FB600+BS) and breath-hold DWI with MPG pulses in X, Y, Z direction and inversion recovery for fat saturation(BH600+BS). Artifacts and SNR of normal pancreas were statistically investigated and compared among different DWI sequences. Results: Artifacts of normal pancreas showed noticeably statistical difference among different DWI sequences by ANOVA(P＜0.001). Normal pancreas displayed the lowest artifact scores in TRIG600+BS and the highest artifact scores in BH600+BS. SNR of normal pancreas showed noticeably statistical difference among different DWI sequences(P＜0.001); Among six different DWI sequences, TRIG600 had the highest SNR, while BH600+BS had the lowest SNR. The head, body and tail of pancreas had the increasing SNR in all six different DWI sequences and the statistical difference in SNR was noticed between the head and tail of pancreas(P＜0.05). Conclusion: Normal pancreas in TRIG600+BS displayed homogeneous hypointensity, edge sharpness and the superior image quality compared to other five DWI sequences on 3.0T MR.
2013, Vol. 24 
