Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Hepatol. Jul 28, 2015; 7(15): 1894-1898
Published online Jul 28, 2015. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v7.i15.1894
3.0 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging: A new standard in liver imaging?
Rossano Girometti
Rossano Girometti, Institute of Diagnostic Radiology, Department of Medical and Biological Sciences, University of Udine, 33100 Udine, Italy
Author contributions: Girometti R solely contributed to this paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Nothing to disclose.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Rossano Girometti, MD, Researcher, Institute of Diagnostic Radiology, Department of Medical and Biological Sciences, University of Udine, University Hospital “S. Maria della Misericordia”, via Colugna, 50, 33100 Udine, Italy. rgirometti@sirm.org
Telephone: +39-432-559266 Fax: +39-432-559867
Received: January 27, 2015
Peer-review started: January 27, 2015
First decision: April 27, 2015
Revised: May 17, 2015
Accepted: June 4, 2015
Article in press: June 8, 2015
Published online: July 28, 2015
Processing time: 193 Days and 1.8 Hours
Abstract

An ever-increasing number of 3.0 Tesla (T) magnets are installed worldwide. Moving from the standard of 1.5 T to higher field strength implies a number of potential advantage and drawbacks, requiring careful optimization of imaging protocols or implementation of novel hardware components. Clinical practice and literature review suggest that state-of-the-art 3.0 T is equivalent to 1.5 T in the assessment of focal liver lesions and diffuse liver disease. Therefore, further technical improvements are needed in order to fully exploit the potential of higher field strength.

Keywords: Magnetic resonance imaging; Liver; 1.5 Tesla; 3.0 Tesla; Magnetic field strength

Core tip: The editorial focuses on potential advantages and drawbacks related to the use of 3.0 Tesla (T) magnets in liver imaging. Current clinical applications are discussed, with special emphasis on the comparison with 1.5 T. If careful optimization is performed, state-of-the-art 3.0 T is equivalent to 1.5 T. Further technical improvements are needed in order to fully exploit the potential of higher field strength.