Background Tumor-to-liver contrast is low in images of chronically diseased livers because gadolinium-based hepatocyte-specific contrast agents (Gd-EOB-DTPA) accumulate less to hepatocytes. Purpose To determine whether phase-sensitive inversion recovery (PSIR) could improve the T contrasts of Gd-based contrast agents and liver parenchyma and simultaneously provide accurate T values for abdominal organs. Material and Methods The image contrasts of phantoms with different Gd concentrations that were obtained using PSIR were compared to conventional turbo field echo (TFE) results. T value was estimated using PSIR by performing iterations to investigate the two IR magnetization evolutions. The estimated T values were validated using IR-spin echo (IR-SE) and Look-Locker (L-L) sequences. In an in vivo study, the liver-to-spleen and liver-to-muscle contrasts of the PSIR and TFE images of seven volunteers were compared, as were the T values of liver parenchyma, spleen, and muscle obtained using PSIR and L-L sequences. Results The PSIR images showed T contrasts higher than those in the TFE results. The PSIR and IR-SE T values were linearly correlated. Additionally, the R estimated using PSIR were correlated with those measured using IR-SE and L-L. In the in vivo study, the liver-to-spleen and liver-to-muscle contrasts of PSIR were significantly higher than those obtained using TFE. T values of abdominal organs obtained using PSIR and L-L were clearly correlated. Conclusion PSIR may be capable of improving liver image T contrasts when Gd-based contrast agents are employed and simultaneously yielding accurate T values of abdominal organs.