High-Throughput Quantitative Chemical Shift-Encoded MRI of the Liver
A new study from our research group demonstrates a new approach to high-throughput MRI. Access to MRI is limited by lengthy exam times and inefficient utilization of the MRI room for activities such as patient positioning. Focused protocols combined with innovative MRI suite design, AI-methods, and robust MRI methods address limitations that require lengthy exam reservations to account for room turnover and variability between patients.
In two different cohorts (24 participants and 72 total exams), 100% diagnostic image quality and liver coverage were achieved with total MRI room time below 5 minutes.
Illustration of (A) the suite architecture, (B) workflow, and (C) timing for focused CSE- MRI exams in the two- door MRI smart suite. Shown in (A) is an architectural diagram of the twin two- door MRI smart suites installed at the study site. In this work, only one of the two MRI rooms was used. Positions and fields of view of video cameras used to record timings for workflow intervals (see Table 1) are depicted in red. Shown in (B) is the journey of one participant (“current participant”) in the smart suite. Notably, no participants ever set foot on the MRI room floor. Shown in (C) is a timeline with representative durations for each stage of the workflow. Numbered arrows correspond with illustrations of workflow in (B). The overlapping of workflow stages between different participants is also illustrated. CSE- MRI, chemical shift- encoded MRI. (From https://doi.org/10.1002/jmri.70429)
We wish to acknowledge investigator-initiated research support from the National Institutes of Health (R01EB031886).
Fullerton GC, Tang J, Starekova J, Heidenreich JF, Pirasteh A, Harris DT, Tamada D, Buelo CJ, Rettmann DW, Hernando D, Reeder SB. High-Throughput Quantitative Chemical Shift-Encoded MRI of the Liver. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2026 Jul 9. doi: 10.1002/jmri.70429. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 42426961.