Comparative study of RESOLVE DWI and conventional DWI in brain MRI

Objective: To evaluate the quality of brain MRI with RESOLVE(readout segmentation of long variable echo-trains) DWI( diffusion weighted imaging) and its effect on apparent diffusion coefficient(ADC) value as compared with conventional DWI. Methods: MR scanning with RESOLVE DWI and conventional DWI were performed on Siemens MAGNETOM Aera 1.5 T superconducting MRI scanner in 43 subjects with headache or dizziness. The image quality was assessed by subjective and objective evaluation methods. Five-level image quality was used in subjective evaluation. The signal-to-noise ratio(SNR) and ADC value of brain tissue were measured objectively. Comparative statistical analysis was performed for comparing the RESOLVE DWI and conventional DWI. Results: Of the 43 cases, the image quality score of RESOLVE DWI surpassed conventional DWI in subjective evaluation. The image quality differed significantly between the two groups(P0.01). Average SNR of white matter in RESOLVE DWI was higher than that of conventional DWI(P0.01).The ADC value of white matter was not significantly different between the two groups(P0.05). Conclusions: Application of RESOLVE DWI could improve image quality and increase SNR. RESOLVE DWI had no influence on ADC value of cerebral white matter, and RESOLVE DWI could be used as a routine method for brain MRI.