Table 2.
MR units in the six institutions and their DWI protocols
| Institution | A | B | C | D | E | F |
| MR unit | GE Signa HDxt | Philips Intera Achieva NovaDual | Philips Intera Achieva NovaDual | Philips Ingenia | GE Signa HDxt | Siemens Spectra |
| Coil | 8-ch body upper | 32 cm SENSE/torso cardiac coil | 32 cm SENSE/torso Cardiac coil | 16-ch dStream Torso coil | 8-ch body Upper | 6-ch body coil + pine coil |
| Magnetic field strength (T) | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 3 | 1.5 | 3 |
| b factor (s mm–2) | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | 800 | 800 |
| Repetition time (ms) | 4500 | 1198.3–1336.7 | 2319–5000 | 6250 | 5500 | 1,3800 |
| Echo time (ms) | 76.3 | 73 | 69 | 65 | 72.5 | 68 |
| Acquisition matrix | 88 × 110 | 112 × 88 | 144 × 114 | 128 × 135 | 128 × 192 | 128 × 63 |
| Image matrix | 256 × 256 | 256 × 256 | 256 × 256 | 384 × 384 | 256 × 256 | 256 × 168 |
| Field of view (cm) | 40 | 35 | 35–40 | 36 | 40 | 38 |
| Slice thickness (mm) | 7 | 8 | 7–11 | 6–7.5 | 6 | 6 |
| Slice gap (mm) | 2 | 2 | 0.7–1.1 | 0–1 | 2 | 0 |
| Respiratory motion compensation technique | Respiratory-triggered | Respiratory-triggered | Respiratory-triggered | Free-breathing | Respiratory-triggered | Free-breathing |
| Fat suppression | CHESS | CHESS | CHESS | CHESS + SSGR | CHESS | CHESS + SSGR |
DWI, diffusion-weighted imaging; CHESS, chemical shift selective; SSGR, section-select gradient reversal.