Spectrally-selective and Interleaved Water Imaging and Fat Imaging (siWIFI) for Model-free Fat Quantification

Motivation: Reliable water-fat separation and quantification are of critical importance in the MRI assessment of diseases involving metabolic disruption and fat infiltration. Goal(s): To develop a model-free approach for spectrally selective and interleaved water imaging and fat Imaging (siWIFI). Approach: We designed a new sequence that selectively acquires water and fat signals in an interleaved fashion. This new sequence was tested on phantoms and healthy subjects. Results: The measured fat fraction showed excellent correlation with fat concentrations of phantoms. Both phantom and healthy subject images were comparable to those from standard IDEAL scans. Impact: Our new method, termed siWIFI, selectively images water and fat for water-fat quantification which does not require complicated post-processing. Combining with MT preparation shows the feasibility of simultaneous quantification of fat infiltration and fibrosis development.