Application of Integrated Slice-Specific Dynamic Shimming Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI) in MRCP

Motivation: Few studies focus on the benifits of iShim-DWI compared with SS-EPI-DWI in upper abdominal organs. Goal(s): To compare integrated slice-specific dynamic shimming (iShim) diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) and single-shot echo-planar imaging (SS-EPI) DWI in image quality of ERCP. Approach: Qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed on image quality evaluation of iShim-DWI and SS-EPI-DWI, respectively. Results: iShim-DWI improves images quality of MRCP compared with SS-EPI-DWI, and therefore providing the extra clinical benefits in presenting the lesions of upper abdominal organs . Impact: This study is one of the first to report the worth application of iShim-DWI(b=800 s/mm2) in upper abdomen, which could improve the lesion detection, and might be a better choice for ultra-high b value in upper abdomen in future study.