Comparison of Breath-Hold and Free-Breathing Techniques for Fat Fraction and R2* Quantification in the Liver

Motivation: Fat fraction (FF) and R2* measurements can be used as a non-invasive alternative to liver biopsies in patients with liver disease. Goal(s): To evaluate the performance of breath-hold (BH) and free-breathing (FB) MRI techniques for quantifying liver FF and R2* values. Approach: 19 healthy controls were scanned to acquire FF and R2* measurements using both BH and FB techniques. Signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio was measured in a subset of participants. Results: The FB technique, which improves patient comfort, demonstrated significantly higher SNR ratios. It presents as a promising tool for the early detection of liver diseases, once challenges like segmentation inaccuracies are addressed. Impact: This study demonstrates that both BH and FB techniques effectively quantify liver fat and iron, with FB offering higher SNR and reduced motion artefacts. However, variability in R2* values highlights the need for improved segmentation and protocol refinement.