Whole‐body MRI‐based fat quantification: A comparison to air displacement plethysmography

Abstract

To demonstrate the feasibility of an algorithm for MRI whole-body quantification of internal and subcutaneous fat and quantitative comparison of total adipose tissue to air displacement plethysmography (ADP). For comparison with ADP, whole-body MR data of 11 volunteers were obtained using a continuously moving table Dixon sequence. Resulting fat images were corrected for B1 related intensity inhomogeneities before fat segmentation. The performed MR measurements of the whole body provided a direct comparison to ADP measurements. The segmentation of subcutaneous and internal fat in the abdomen worked reliably with an accuracy of 98%. Depending on the underlying model for fat quantification, the resultant MR fat masses represent an upper and a lower limit for the true fat masses. In comparison to ADP, the results were in good agreement with ρ ≥ 0.97, P < 0.0001. Whole-body fat quantities derived noninvasively by using a continuously moving table Dixon acquisition were directly compared with ADP. The accuracy of the method and the high reproducibility of results indicate its potential for clinical applications.