The Influences of Reconstruction Methods and Number of Blades on ADC Repeatability in Free-breathing Liver DW-PROPELLER-EPI

Motivation: The imaging factors associated with the improved ADC repeatability in a free-breathing liver DW-PROPELLER-EPI technique remains unclear. Goal(s): To evaluate the influences of reconstruction methods and the number of blades on ADC repeatability. Approach: ADC repeatability and SNR were measured in 20 subjects with the data reconstructed at varying numbers of blades using either iterative CORPUSE or conventional PROPELLER-EPI reconstruction method. Results: Both ADC repeatability and SNR were positively correlated with number of blades. The data produced by iterative CORPUSE method showed less discrepancy in measured ADC values across different numbers of blades used for reconstruction. Impact: Increasing the number of blades can more significantly improve the ADC repeatability than increasing the SNR, and therefore providing an insight into optimizing the performance of free-breathing liver DW-PROPELLER-EPI.