Abdominal magnetic resonance imaging at 3.0 T: problem or a promise for the future?

The development of transmit-receive body coils and local and phased-array radiofrequency receive coils for 3.0-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems, and their recent approval in Europe and North America has promoted a move toward higher field, whole-body MRI. With approximately double the signal-noise ratio of a 1.5-T system, 3.0-T MR systems can substantially improve image quality and image acquisition speed; 3.0 T can potentially deliver square root(2) improvement in resolution in the same acquisition time of a comparable study at 1.5 T or one-half slice thickness with identical coverage or 4-fold speedup in scanning time for identical resolution settings. Parallel imaging, multiple coil elements, specific absorption rate, and altered MR physical properties at 3.0 T (T1 relaxation times, susceptibility, T2*) are important issues during optimization of sequences at high field. Possible future applications in the abdomen include high-resolution, contrast-enhanced imaging of the liver and pancreas; MR angiography; and MR spectroscopy. In this article, we will present our initial experience with optimization of sequences for abdominal MRI at 3.0 T and will include a short description of parallel imaging because of its importance for imaging at 3.0 T, general remarks comparing some of the physical properties of 1.5 T and 3.0 T, and some of the challenges during sequence optimization for the abdomen at 3.0 T with examples of abdominal MRI at 3.0 T with 4- and 8-channel coils.