Abstract #1780

Tractography of the Neurovascular Bundles of the Prostate with Zoom DTI Technique: Preliminary Report

Satoru Takahashi¹, Yoshiko Ueno¹, Kazuhiro Kitajima², Tomoyuki Okuaki³, Kazuro Sugimura²

¹Radiology, Kobe University Hospital, Kobe, Hyoto, Japan; ²Radiology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyoto, Japan; ³Philips Electronics Japan, Minato, Tokyo, Japan

Although diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) with a smaller FOV is desirable for visualizing tiny neurovascular bundles (NVBs) around the prostate, a conventional excitation technique limits the minimum size of FOV due to aliasing artifact. We conducted this preliminary study to evaluate the ability of selective radiofrequency excitations technique (zoom DTI) for the demonstration of the NVB using fiber tractography technique with small FOV. We found that tractography with zoom DTI technique of the prostate was feasible and could elucidate the periprostatic fiber tract detail, although further study is required to correlate DTI findings to gold standard anatomic specimens.