High Acceleration Three-Dimensional T1-Weighted Dual Echo Dixon Hepatobiliary Phase Imaging Using Compressed Sensing-Sensitivity Encoding: Comparison of Image Quality and Solid Lesion Detectability with the Standard T1-Weighted Sequence

Abstract

Objective: To compare a high acceleration three-dimensional (30) T1-weighted gradient-recalled-echo (GRE) sequence using the combined compressed sensing (CS)-sensitivity encoding (SENSE) method with a conventional 3D GRE sequence using SENSE, with respect to image quality and detectability of solid focal liver lesions (FLLs) in the hepatobiliary phase (HBP) of gadoxetic acid-enhanced liver MRI. Materials and Methods: A total of 217 patients with gadoxetic acid-enhanced liver MRI at 3T (54 in the preliminary study and 163 in the main study) were retrospectively included. In the main study, HBP imaging was done twice using the standard mDixon-3D-GRE technique with SENSE (acceleration factor [AF]: 2.8, standard mDixon-GRE) and the high acceleration mDixon-3D GRE technique using the combined CS-SENSE technique (CS-SENSE mDixon-GRE). Two abdominal radiologists assessed the two MRI data sets for image quality in consensus. Three other abdominal radiologists independently assessed the diagnostic performance of each data set and its ability to detect solid FLLs in 117 patients with 193 solid nodules and compared them using jackknife alternative free-response receiver operating characteristics (JAFROC). Results: There was no significant difference in the overall image quality. CS-SENSE mDixon-GRE showed higher image noise, but lesser motion artifact levels compared with the standard mDixon-GRE (all p < 0.05). In terms of lesion detection, reader-averaged figures-of-merit estimated with JAFROC was 0.918 for standard mDixon-GRE, and 0.953 for CS-SENSE mDixon-GRE (p = 0.142). The non-inferiority of CS-SENSE mDixon-GRE over standard mDixon-GRE was confirmed (difference: 0.064 [-0.012, 0.081]). Conclusion: The CS-SENSE mDixon-GRE HBP sequence provided comparable overall image quality and non-inferior solid FFL detectability compared with the standard mDixon-GRE sequence, with reduced acquisition time.