New acquisition techniques: fields of application

Conventional MR imaging of the liver has a central role in the assessment of liver diseases. Diffusion-weighted MR imaging, MR elastography, and time-resolved dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging improve the anatomical information provided by conventional MR imaging and add quantitative functional information in diffuse and focal liver diseases. Particularly, accurate detection and characterization of liver fibrosis are feasible with quantitative MR elastography, detection of liver tumors is increased with diffusion-weighted MR imaging and time-resolved dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging, characterization of tumors can be improved with quantitative diffusion-weighted MR imaging and MR elastography. These methods also have the potential to provide adequate biomarkers for assessing the response to treatment. Currently, the main limitations of quantitative MR imaging are related to reproducibility, standardization, and/or limited clinical data. It is important to improve and standardize the quantitative MR methods and validate their role in large multicenter trials.