Caroline L. Hoad1, Alexander G. Gardener1,
Ji-Young Lim1, Carolyn Costigan2, Robin C. Spiller3,
Penny A. Gowland1, Luca Marciani3, Guru P. Aithal3,
Susan T. Francis1
1School of Physics and Astronomy,
University of Nottingham, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom; 2Brain
and Body Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire,
United Kingdom; 3Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centre, NIHR
Biomedical Research Unit, University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottingham,
Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom
T1,
T2 and T2* relaxation maps of the whole liver of
chronic liver disease patients were generated using respiratory triggered
IR-SE-EPI, SE-EPI and GE-EPI datasets respectively. These maps were used to generate
voxel-by-voxel histograms of the liver tissue, the central peak data of the
histogram being predominately from bulk tissue (excluding vessels). This method of analysis provided a robust
result, with minimal variation in the peak data when the shape of the mask
was altered. A significant spread in
measured peak relaxation times is found in patients with chronic liver
disease.