Abstract #2777

Fast, High-Resolution, 3-Dimensional Imaging of the Mouse Prostate with BSSFP

Christiane L. Mallett^1,2, Paula J. Foster^1,2

¹Imaging Research Laboratories, Robarts Research Institute, London, Ontario, Canada; ²Medical Biophysics, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada

Purpose: To obtain high-quality images of the mouse prostate for studies of prostate cancer. Methods: Mice were imaged with balanced steady state free precession (bSSFP), T1- and T2-weighted spin-echo sequences. Results: We obtained whole-body images at 200 micron resolution that included the prostate, popliteal and inguinal lymph nodes in ~25 mins. 2D T1- and T2-weighted SE sequences had inferior SNR per slice thickness and prostate-fat CNR relative to bSSFP. Conclusion: bSSFP gives fast, high resolution, 3D mouse prostate and body imaging with high SNR and CNR. This will be used in studies of prostate cancer and metastasis.