Reduction in respiratory motion artefacts on gadoxetate-enhanced MRI after training technicians to apply a simple and more patient-adapted breathing command

Objective To investigate whether a trained group of technicians using a modified breathing command during gadoxetate-enhanced liver MRI reduces respiratory motion artefacts compared to non-trained technicians using a traditional breathing command. Materials and methods The gadoxetate-enhanced liver MR images of 30 patients acquired using the traditional breathing command and the subsequent 30 patients after training the technicians to use a modified breathing command were analyzed. A subgroup of patients (n = 8) underwent scans both by trained and untrained technicians. Images obtained using the traditional and modified breathing command were compared for the presence of breathing artefacts [respiratory artefact-based image quality scores from 1 (best) to 5 (non-diagnostic)]. Results There was a highly significant improvement in the arterial phase image quality scores in patients using the modified breathing command compared to the traditional one (P