Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 30, 2025
Tracking the Mammary Architectural Features and Detecting Breast Cancer with Magnetic Resonance Diffusion Tensor Imaging
Published on: December 15, 2014
Fast and accessible T2 mapping using off-resonance corrected DESPOT2 with application to 3D prostate
Ronal Coronado1, Carlos Castillo-Passi2, Cecilia Besa3
1Biomedical Imaging Center, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile; Department of Electrical Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile; Millennium Institute for Intelligent Healthcare Engineering, Santiago, Chile.
A new method, DESPO+, offers fast, high-resolution 3D T1/T2 mapping for the prostate. This technique overcomes off-resonance artifacts, improving accuracy and reducing scan times by 50% compared to traditional MRI.
Area of Science:
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging
- Quantitative MRI
Background:
- Conventional T1 and T2 mapping often requires lengthy acquisition times or specialized sequences unavailable on standard clinical scanners.
- Existing methods like DESPOT1/T2 (Driven equilibrium single pulse observation of T1/T2) utilize SPGR and bSSFP sequences for accelerated 3D mapping but are susceptible to off-resonance artifacts, particularly in regions like the prostate.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce DESPO+, a novel method for reconstructing 3D T1/T2 maps in the prostate without off-resonance banding artifacts.
- To provide an accessible and reliable solution for quantitative MRI in challenging anatomical regions.
Main Methods:
- DESPO+ modifies the bSSFP acquisition within the DESPOT2 framework, incorporating variable repetition and echo times.
- It employs a dictionary-based reconstruction using full bSSFP and SPGR models to simultaneously determine T1, T2, and Proton Density (PD).
- The method was validated through simulations, phantom studies, and in fourteen healthy subjects.
Main Results:
- DESPO+ demonstrated a significant reduction in T2 map banding artifacts compared to the original DESPOT2, with T2 errors reduced up to sevenfold in simulations and phantom experiments.
- Synthesized in-vivo T1-weighted/T2-weighted images from DESPO+ maps closely matched those from clinical MRI protocols.
- The technique achieved a 50% reduction in scan time compared to traditional spin-echo T1-weighted/T2-weighted acquisitions.
Conclusions:
- DESPO+ offers an off-resonance insensitive solution for high-resolution 3D T1/T2 mapping of the entire prostate.
- It enables the generation of synthesized T1-weighted/T2-weighted images with significantly reduced scan times (3.6 minutes).
- This clinically available method enhances the utility of quantitative MRI in prostate imaging.
