Prostate Perfusion using Arterial Spin Labeling: Initial Experience

Xiufeng Li¹, Chaitanya Kalavagunta¹, Greg Metzger¹

Non-contrast enhanced perfusion imaging method using arterial spin labeling can benefit prostate cancer patients with contraindications to the use of MR contrast-agent, and should be more suitable for repeated studies monitoring tumor progression or treatment response. To evaluate the feasibility of prostate perfusion using FAIR at 3T, multiple inversion perfusion studies were performed with healthy controls using surface array coils. Signal changes originating from labeled blood are measurable and correlate well with other measurement of prostate perfusion. However, SNR and physiological motion are limiting factors for obtaining perfusion maps, making the proposed method and hardware impractical for clinical applications. To our knowledge, these are the first attempts at obtaining ASL results in the human prostate.