Marnix
C. Maas1, Miriam W. Lagemaat2, Stephan Orzada3,
4, Thiele Kobus2, Oliver Kraff3, Stefan Maderwald3,
Andreas K. Bitz3, 4, Mark E. Ladd3, 4,
Tom W.J. Scheenen2, 3
1Radiology , Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, Netherlands; 2Radiology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, GLD, Netherlands; 3Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, University Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany; 4Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany
Knowledge of T1 and T2 relaxation times can aid the development and optimization of dedicated pulse sequences for imaging and spectroscopy at ultra-high field (≥7T). We have measured these quantities in human prostate and surrounding tissues at 7T in healthy volunteers using progressive saturation gradient echo imaging with fixed TR and varying flip angle for T1 and multiple-contrast spin-echo imaging for T2. The results suggested a TE of 6070 ms for optimum contrast between the prostate peripheral zone and transition zones in fast spin-echo imaging, which was indeed shown to yield contrast between these tissues.