PURPOSE: To investigate the tolerability and technical feasibility of performing endorectal MR elastography (eMRE) in human volunteers within the representative age group commonly affected by prostate cancer.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Endorectal MRE was conducted on seven volunteers in a 1.5 Tesla (T) MR imager using a rigid endorectal coil. Another five volunteers were imaged on a 3T MR imager using an inflatable balloon type endorectal coil. Tolerability was accessed for vibration amplitudes of ±1-50 μm and for frequencies of 100-300 Hz.
RESULTS: All 12 volunteers tolerated the displacements necessary to successfully perform eMRE. Shear waves with frequencies up to 300 Hz could propagate across the entire prostate using both coil designs.
CONCLUSION: The results of this study motivate further investigation of eMRE in prostate cancer patients to help determine if there is an added value of integrating eMRE into existing multi-parametric prostate MRI exams.
Written by:
Arani A, Da Rosa M, Ramsay E, Plewes DB, Haider MA, Chopra R. Are you the author?
Physical Sciences, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. .
Reference: J Magn Reson Imaging. 2013 Feb 13. Epub ahead of print.
doi: 10.1002/jmri.24028
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 23408516
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