Table 4 Image quality of six DWI acquisition approaches in terms of sharpness, distortion, artifact, and overall IQ

Sharpness

2.9 ± 0.5

3.1 ± 0.4

3.1 ± 0.5

4.5 ± 0.5

4.8 ± 0.4

4.8 ± 0.4

< 0.001

Distortion

2.9 ± 0.4

3.2 ± 0.4

3.2 ± 0.5

3.4 ± 0.5

3.3 ± 0.4

3.7 ± 0.4

< 0.001

Artifact

2.3 ± 0.8

3.2 ± 0.9

3.3 ± 0.7

2.5 ± 0.5

3.3 ± 0.5

3.4 ± 0.5

< 0.001

Overall IQ

2.7 ± 0.4

3.1 ± 0.4

3.2 ± 0.4

3.4 ± 0.3

3.8 ± 0.3

3.9 ± 0.3

< 0.001