Acs nt

All the examinations were performed on clinical 1.5-T MRI scanners (Gyroscan Intera and ACS-NT, 1.5 T; Philips Healthcare, Best, the Netherlands; gradient system: maximum amplitude =30 mT/m, maximum slew rate =150 T/m/s) by using a commercially available 4-element phased array surface receiver coil with the patient in supine position. In each patient, baseline and follow up MRI examinations were performed by using the same MRI scanner. The DWI sequence (Table 1), a respiratory-triggered single-shot spin-echo echo-planar imaging variant with 3 b-values (b₀=0, b₁=50, and b₂=800 s/mm²) and motion-probing gradients in 3 orthogonal directions, was always acquired before contrast agent injection. Isotropic diffusion-weighted images were reconstructed online on the MRI system. The protocol also included a T2-weighted sequence with and without fat suppression, a T1-weighted sequence, and a T1-weighted dynamic contrast-enhanced sequence.