Hirofumi Hata1, Yusuke Inoue2, Ai Nakajima1, Shotaro Komi1, Yutaka Abe1, Keiji Matsunaga2, and Hiroki Miyatake1
1Department of Radiology, Kitasato University Hospital, Sagamihara, Japan, 2Department of Diagnositic Radiology, Kitasato University School of Medicine, Sagamihara, Japan
We compared navigator-gating techniques
for free-breathing 2D SPGR images of the liver using pencil-beam excitation and
self-navigation techniques in 3 T MRI. In
pencil-beam navigator, single-check (PB-SC) and double-check (PB-DC) modes were
examined. In self-navigator scans, self-navigator signals were acquired in two
fashions; before (SN-Pre) or after (SN-Post) the imaging read-out. Visual
analysis shows that respiratory waveforms fluctuated in SN-Post. Quantitative
and qualitative image evaluations show that PB-DC and SN-Post had better image
qualities than the others. Considering scan time was about doubled in SN-Post, PB-DC
should be the best for respiratory navigation in 2D SPGR imaging at this stage.