Maria Luise Hahnemann MD, Presenter: Nothing to Disclose

Felix Nensa MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Sonja Kinner MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Guido Gerken, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Thomas C. Lauenstein MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

The aim of this study was to establish an automated algorithm for visualizing and quantifying bowel motion disorders in cine MRI.

Thirty patients with suspected or diagnosed inflammatory bowel disease underwent MR examination on a 1.5T scanner (Avanto, Siemens). In addition to the standard MRI bowel protocol, coronal T2-weighted cine MR images were acquired with a temporal resolution of 4.5s continuously over a time span of 150s. After affine 2D respiratory motion correction, bowel motility was estimated from cine MRI using an optical flow algorithm and the resulting motion vector magnitudes were color-coded into bowel motility maps.

The acquisition of color-coded maps of bowel motility was feasible in all 30 patients. Increased or decreased bowel movement visualized by motility-mapping allowed for the detection of segments of abnormal bowel motility. Particularly, inflamed bowel segments exhibited a decreased motility.

Color-coded motility mapping in T2w cine MRI is a feasible and promising new approach for the assessment of bowel motility disorders. In future, this method may improve the detection of pathological conditions or abnormalities in bowel segments without or with only subtle signs of inflammation on morphologic images.

This new technology may help to increase diagnostic accuracy for the depiction of inflamed bowel segments.

Hahnemann, M, Nensa, F, Kinner, S, Gerken, G, Lauenstein, T, Visualization of Bowel Motility Disorders in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease by Development of an Automated Color-coding Algorithm in Cine MRI.  Radiological Society of North America 2013 Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, December 1 - December 6, 2013 ,Chicago IL. http://archive.rsna.org/2013/13014641.html