Abstract #0172

Greenman R, Bloch B, Marquis R, Lenkinski R, Rosen Y, Rofsky N

Most prostate MRS/MRI studies are performed with an endo-rectal coil inflated with air, which induces susceptibility gradients within the gland. Using perfluorocarbon instead of air has been previously shown to improve spectral resolution. We assessed the suitability of a barium suspension by determining field maps in normal volunteers when the endo-rectal coil was inflated with air, perfluorocarbon and barium successively. The barium suspension, as well as the perfluorocarbon, provided a significantly better field homogeneity than air. Further studies are underway to compare the benefits of using barium suspensions or perfluorocarbon on in vivo 3D-CSI spectra of the prostate at 3T.