Fast 3D T2 -weighted imaging using variable flip angle transition into driven equilibrium (3D T2 -TIDE) balanced SSFP for prostate imaging at 3T

Subashini Srinivasan; Holden H Wu; Kyunghyun Sung; Daniel J A Margolis; Daniel B Ennis

doi:10.1002/mrm.25430

Fast 3D T2 -weighted imaging using variable flip angle transition into driven equilibrium (3D T2 -TIDE) balanced SSFP for prostate imaging at 3T

Magn Reson Med. 2015 Aug;74(2):442-51. doi: 10.1002/mrm.25430. Epub 2014 Sep 5.

Authors

Subashini Srinivasan^{1

2}, Holden H Wu^{1

2

3}, Kyunghyun Sung^{1

2}, Daniel J A Margolis¹, Daniel B Ennis^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
² Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
³ Biomedical Physics Interdepartmental Program, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.

PMID: 25195659
DOI: 10.1002/mrm.25430

Abstract

Purpose: Three-dimensional (3D) T2 -weighted fast spin echo (FSE) imaging of the prostate currently requires long acquisition times. Our objective was to develop a fast 3D T2 -weighted sequence for prostate imaging at 3T using a variable flip angle transition into driven equilibrium (T2 -TIDE) scheme.

Methods: 3D T2 -TIDE uses interleaved spiral-out phase encode ordering to efficiently sample the ky -kz phase encodes and also uses the transient balanced steady-state free precession signal to acquire the center of k-space for T2 -weighted imaging. Bloch simulations and images from 10 healthy subjects were acquired to evaluate the performance of 3D T2 -TIDE compared to 3D FSE.

Results: 3D T2 -TIDE images were acquired in 2:54 minutes compared to 7:02 minutes for 3D FSE with identical imaging parameters. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) efficiency was significantly higher for 3D T2 -TIDE compared to 3D FSE in nearly all tissues, including periprostatic fat (45 ± 12 vs. 31 ± 7, P < 0.01), gluteal fat (48 ± 8 vs. 41 ± 10, P = 0.12), right peripheral zone (20 ± 4 vs. 16 ± 8, P = 0.12), left peripheral zone (17 ± 2 vs. 12 ± 3, P < 0.01), and anterior fibromuscular stroma (12 ± 4 vs. 4 ± 2, P < 0.01).

Conclusion: 3D T2 -TIDE images of the prostate can be acquired quickly with SNR efficiency that exceeds that of 3D FSE.

Keywords: 3D T2-TIDE; 3D T2-weighted imaging; 3D prostate imaging; variable flip angle.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Algorithms
Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods*
Humans
Image Enhancement / methods*
Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / methods*
Imaging, Three-Dimensional / methods*
Male
Prostatic Neoplasms / pathology*
Reproducibility of Results
Sensitivity and Specificity
Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted*