Intra- and Inter-scanner Variability Evaluation of RR-VFA B1+ and T1 in the Prostate at 3T

Accurate T₁ estimation is critical for quantitative prostate DCE MRI. B₁⁺ inhomogeneity can introduce significant error into the T₁ quantification, especially for variable flip angle method. Reference region variable flip angle (RR-VFA) method is a promising B₁⁺ and T₁ estimation technique, which requires no separate scans for B₁⁺ mapping and can reduce slice profile and position mismatch between B₁⁺ and T₁ maps. In this study, we investigated both intra-scanner repeatability and inter-scanner reproducibility regarding B₁⁺ corrected T₁ on two 3.0 T scanners to compare RR-VFA to a commercially available B₁⁺ estimation technique. RR-VFA showed comparable intra- and inter-scanner variability to the saturated turbo FLASH based B₁⁺ estimation technique.