Carolin Reischauer1, Bertram Jakob Wilm1, Johannes M. Frhlich2, Peter Boesiger1, Klaus U. Wentz1
1Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; 2Guerbet AG, Scientific Affairs, Zurich, Switzerland
Several studies have demonstrated the benefit of diffusion parameters as markers for prostate cancer imaging. Most of these studies have applied single-shot spin-echo EPI due to its high SNR-efficiency and its insensitivity to motion artifacts. The thereby achievable resolution is limited by susceptibility-related artifacts and T2*-blurring. The present work shows that a spatially reduced FOV can achieve submilimeter in-plane resolution which enables improved evaluation of diffusion parameters in localized structures of the prostate.The method is tested in a clinical study with patients suspected to suffer from prostate cancer and the findings are compared with a control group and with histopathology.
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