Impact of field strength and RF excitation on abdominal diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging

Table 3 Mean signal-to-noise ratio measurements for the patient and volunteer populations across all b-values in all eight anatomical distributions

		Liver (right lobe)			1Liver (left lobe)			1Liver (caudate lobe)			1Pancreas (head)			Left Kidney			Right Kidney			Spleen			Muscle
	b-values (s/mm²)	50	400	800	50	400	800	50	400	800	50	400	800	50	400	800	50	400	800	50	400	800	50	400	800
Patients	non-dpTX 3.0T	26.6	19.6	16.3	12.5	9.9	9.1	24.1	18.1	16.1	51.6	29.6	21.3	201.7	83.2	(42.4)	168.72	(77.1)	(42.7)	107.8	81.1	59.2	33.2	19.3	11.9
	dpTX 3.0T	42.52	33.7	23.3	52.1	42.6	27.1	27.32	21.02	12.5	70.4	58.0	33.1	169.0	138.2	65.1	150.52	127.6	60.0	118.5	105.7	78.3	60.5	53.1	30.3
	1.5T	38.12	(24.6)	17.3	(28.6)	(16.8)	(11.3)	24.2	15.2	11.2	40.8	22.6	(14.9)	118.9	55.7	28.8	113.3	52.4	26.9	101.9	72.7	52.3	32.1	20.3	(13.4)
Volunteers	non-dpTX 3.0T	17.0	9.4	7.6	6.6	5.3	4.8	11.6	6.9	6.3	30.0	14.0	10.2	112.2	44.72	(22.5)	74.0	29.6	16.1	74.7	48.3	33.6	(23.1)	12.3	8.4
	dpTX 3.0T	29.52	14.92	10.7	44.9	20.0	13.6	25.8	11.42	7.9	76.1	30.5	18.8	155.1	59.72	30.8	130.5	50.4	26.3	106.62	75.3	55.5	47.4	23.9	13.2
	1.5T	27.92	13.72	10.82	(20.0)	(8.7)	(7.1)	19.0	9.5	7.9	30.1	13.1	9.8	83.4	31.5	16.4	72.2	27.8	14.6	76.3	48.9	34.5	16.6	10.3	8.3

¹Fields correspond to peripheral anatomical regions, while the ¹fields categorize the central anatomical regions. The numbers which are bolded have statistically higher single-to noise ratio values than both of the other imaging systems at the given b-value and regions of interest. The numbers which have a symbol (²) have higher Single-to noise ratio (SNR) values than only the lowest SNR measurement at the given b-value and region of interest (ROI). Items which are parenthesized are values that have the second-highest SNR, but are still significantly higher than the lowest at the given b-value and ROI.