Acquisition Parameters Influence Diffusion Metrics Effectiveness in Probing Prostate Tumor and Age-Related...

Area of Science:

• Radiology and Imaging Science
• Oncology Imaging
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Prostate cancer (PCa) detection relies on accurate imaging for microstructural assessment.
• Diffusion-Tensor-Imaging (DTI) offers potential for evaluating tissue microstructure.
• Understanding the impact of diffusion weighting (b-value) on DTI metrics is crucial for PCa characterization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the utility of Diffusion-Tensor-Imaging (DTI) in detecting prostate cancer (PCa) microstructural changes.
• To assess the influence of diffusion weight (b-value) and diffusion length (lD) on DTI metrics for PCa.
• To correlate DTI metrics with Gleason Score (GS) and patient age.

Main Methods:

• Diffusion-Weighted-Imaging (DWI) at 3T was performed on 32 patients with biopsy-proven PCa.
• DTI maps (MD, FA, D//, D┴) were generated using various b-values up to 2500 s/mm².
• Analysis included visual quality assessment and statistical correlation of DTI metrics with GS and age.

Main Results:

• DTI metrics significantly differentiated benign from PCa tissue (p ≤ 0.0005).
• Optimal discriminative power for Gleason Score was observed at b-values ≥ 1500 s/mm² and in the 0-2000 s/mm² range.
• Strongest linear correlations between DTI metrics (MD, D//, D┴) and GS occurred at b = 2000 s/mm² and the 0-2000 s/mm² range.

Conclusions:

• The b-value range of 0-2000 s/mm² and a b-value of 2000 s/mm² enhance DTI contrast and discriminative power for PCa.
• DTI metrics show sensitivity to age-related microstructural changes, particularly in benign prostate tissue.
• DTI holds significant promise for non-invasive characterization of prostate cancer microstructural alterations.