Performance of single-shot echo-planar imaging DTI in rat sciatic nerve compared with readout-segmented echo-planar imaging

Abstract

This study compared single-shot echo-planar imaging (SS-EPI) with readout-segmented echo-planar imaging (RS-EPI) diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in vivo anesthetized rat sciatic nerve at 3T. The result showed that the image quality scores of SS-EPI were higher than those of RS-EPI in terms of the nerve morphology and homogeneity of the neuromuscular region. The coefficients of FA and RD obtained with SS-EPI were higher than those obtained with RS-EPI SS-EPI. This suggests that in rat sciatic nerve DTI, SS-EPI showed higher image quality and offered more sensitive and stable parameters to detect the histopathological change in the rat sciatic nerve.