Abstract #2738

Improving SNR in High B-Value Diffusion Imaging Using Gmax = 300 MT/m Human Gradients

M. Dylan Tisdall¹,², Thomas Witzel¹, Veneta Tountcheva¹,², Jennifer A. McNab¹,², Julien Cohen-Adad¹,², Ralph Kimmlingen³, Philipp Hoecht^s

¹A.A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Masschusetts General Hosptial, Charlestown, MA, United States; ²Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Brookline, MA, United States; ³Siemens Healthcare, Erlangen, Germany; ⁴Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Charlestown, MA, United States

We present an analysis of the SNR gains produced in high-b-value diffusion-weighted imaging using a novel 3T system with ultra-high, 300 mT/m maximum gradient amplitude (MAGNETOM Skyra CONNECTOM, Siemens Healthcare). Results are presented for both human and phantom studies with b=10k and b=20k, comparing SNR increases as a function of maximum gradient strength ranging from 40 mT/m (standard on clinical systems) to 300 mT/m.