Sliding multislice MRI for abdominal staging of patients with pelvic malignancies: A pilot study

Abstract

Purpose: To integrate SMS (sliding multislice imaging technique for acquiring axial images during continuous table motion) into a high-resolution pelvic MRI protocol for additional staging of the entire abdomen within one examination. Materials and Methods:Axial two-dimensional images were acquired during continuous table motion using a fat-saturated contrast-enhanced T1-weighted gradient echo sequence. Patients held their breath during the first 20 s of the examination and breathed normally afterward while data acquisition continued. Measurement parameters were adjusted to optimize image quality throughout the total field of view. The method was investigated in 22 patients with pelvic malignancies. Two readers independently compared SMS image quality to conventional abdominal MR images, generated by a stationary multi-breath-hold gradient echo sequence.Results: Qualitative evaluation yielded high diagnostic value of SMS data in body regions with no or minor breathing motion, and in those acquired during the initial breathhold. Image quality in the upper abdomen, retroperitoneum, and pelvis is reproducible and equivalent to stationary MRI. Interfering artifacts are related to the intestine in the mid-abdomen. Conclusion:SMS is a promising technique that may have the potential for a first-line abdominal staging tool in patients with pelvic malignancies.

First Clinical Experience with Integrated Whole-Body PET/MR: Comparison to PET/CT in Patients with Oncologic Diagnoses

“…The PET/MR system is equipped with Total Imaging Matrix coil technology (Siemens), covering the entire body with multiple integrated radiofrequency surface coils. This technology allows MRI acquisitions of the whole body without the need to interrupt the examination for repositioning of coils for different body regions (29). The coils (and all other equipment such as patient table and cables) have been redesigned for PET/MR in order to minimize their attenuation and, thus, to allow unimpaired PET acquisition with the coils in place.…”

Continuously Moving Table MRI in Oncology

“…Sommer et al [48] compared the contrast-enhanced breathhold fast low angle shot (FLASH) 2D sequence of a moving-table protocol to a standard stationary contrast-enhanced FLASH 2D sequence of a routinely performed abdominal MR imaging protocol in patients with pelvic malignancies. The primary goal of the study was quality evaluation.…”

MRI of Rectal Cancer

“…One approach attempts to cover the extended FOV as quickly as possible. Similar to stationary interleaved multislice imaging, a package of N parallel slices with distances d is acquired by successively performing n × N acquisition steps of duration ∆T, where n denotes the total number of acquisition steps required for the reconstruction of one image (Sommer et al 2008). Sliding multislice (SMS) is an interleaved multislice acquisition technique for axial CMT imaging (Fautz and Kannengiesser 2006).…”

“…The other approach attempts to cover the extended FOV by using a minimum spatial window of data collection along the z-space. After having passed all N scan positions, each patient slice is fully acquired as it exits the static acquisition window (Sommer et al 2008). Similar to stationary interleaved multislice imaging, a package of N parallel slices with distances d is acquired by successively performing n × N acquisition steps of duration ∆T, where n denotes the total number of acquisition steps required for the reconstruction of one image (Sommer et al 2008).…”