Quantification of the Regional Properties of Gastric Motility Using Dynamic Magnetic Resonance Images

Goal: To quantify the regional properties of gastric motility from free-breathing dynamic MRI data. Methods: Free-breathing MRI scans were performed on 10 healthy human subjects. Motion correction was applied to reduce the respiratory effect. A stomach centerline was automatically generated and used as a reference axis. Contractions were quantified and visualized as spatio-temporal contraction maps. Gastric motility properties were reported separately for the lesser and greater curvatures in the proximal and distal regions of the stomach. Results: Motility properties varied in different regions of the stomach. The mean contraction frequencies for the lesser and greater curvatures were both 3.1 +/- 0.4 cycles per minute. The contraction speed was significantly higher on the greater curvature than the lesser curvature (3.5 +/- 0.7 vs 2.5 +/- 0.4 mm/s, p<0.001) while contraction size on both curvatures was comparable (4.9 +/- 1.2 vs 5.7 +/- 2.4 mm, p = 0.326). The mean gastric motility index was significantly higher in the distal greater curvature (28.13 +/- 18.89 mm(2)/s) compared to the other regions of the stomach (11.16-14.12 mm(2)/s). Conclusions: The results showed the effectiveness of the proposed method for visualization and quantification of motility patterns from MRI data.

Automated summary

This study quantified the regional properties of gastric motility from free-breathing dynamic MRI data. A stomach centerline was generated as a reference axis, and contractions were visualized as spatio-temporal contraction maps. The motility properties varied in different regions of the stomach.