The sensitivity encoding (SENSE) technique is increasingly being used with clinical MRI scanners. The object of this study is to compare the normative human data and image quality of the diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) with sensitivity encoding (SENSE) and standard single-shot EPI techniques.

16 normal volunteers underwent single-shot echo-planar DTI with both standard and SENSE sequences using a 1.5 T Philips Intera MR scanner (TR/TE=6755/74 or 5871/66 ms, echo train length 127 or 67, NEX=3, matrix=128x128, FOV=220x220 mm, slice thickness=4 mm, b value=600 s/mm², six orthogonal diffusion gradients). The diffusion tensor-encoded MR images were transferred to a PC workstation and analyzed using in-house software. The fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps were calculated. The presence of artifacts (ghost susceptibility, eddy current) was graded with a two- or three-point scale. The ADC and FA values were measured in the major white matter tract and gray matter nuclei. The signal-to-noise ratio was also measured. Fisher's exact test and the Mann-Whitney test were used for the statistical analysis.

With SENSE, the acquisition time was reduced from 2 min 57 sec to 1 min 22 sec for DTI. Susceptibility artifacts (around the brain stem and temporal base) and eddy current artifacts were significantly reduced on the SENSE DTI as compared with those on the standard DTI (p<0.05). No ghost artifacts were observed on the SENSE DTI, whereas such artifacts were observed in 14 cases (87.5%) on the standard DTI. The ADC value was not significantly different between the SENSE DTI and the standard DTI, whereas the FA values in the cerebral cortex and white matter were significantly higher on the SENSE DTI than on the standard DTI (p<0.05). The signal-to-noise ratio was 8.44 on the standard DTI and 11.40 on the standard DTI.

The use of SENSE DTI significantly reduces the geometric distortion caused by artifacts, shortens the acquisition time, and allows a relatively high SNR to be maintained, but tends to erroneously increase the FA value of the tissue. Therefore, DTI with SENSE may provide better white matter fiber tracking and diffusivity indices when the imaging parameters for SENSE are optimized.