Xiang He1, Serter Gumus1, Ayaz Aghayev1, Jie Zheng2, Kyongtae Ty Bae1
1Department of Radiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States; 2Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University in St Louis, St Louis, MO, United States
In this study, we developed and applied a T1ρ sequence to image the prostate in healthy normal controls and patients. Our results demonstrated that T1ρ quantification is feasible in 3T MR scanner without the utilization of an endorectal coil. While peripheral zone T2 and T1ρ maps were often homogenous in healthy control subjects, large regional heterogeneity can been also observed due to the variations on granular structure. The discrepancy of T2 and T1ρ behavior in prostate peripheral lesion area in patients is likely due to increased cellular content. This may provide additional information to improve the diagnosis of prostate cancer.