Development of a Dedicated Prostate Phantom for Technical Evaluation of Diffusion-weighted MR Imaging Sequences

Area of Science:

• Radiology and Medical Imaging
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Diffusion-weighted MRI (DW-MRI) is crucial for prostate cancer detection and characterization.
• Standardized evaluation of DW-MRI sequences is needed to ensure consistent image quality and reduce artifacts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the technical feasibility of a custom-designed prostate phantom for standardized qualitative evaluation of DW-MRI sequences.
• To evaluate signal-to-noise characteristics and image artifacts using the phantom across different MRI techniques and field strengths.

Main Methods:

• A custom phantom simulating prostate anatomy, including tumor lesions and rectal gas, was developed.
• Six DW-MRI techniques were evaluated at 1.5T and 3.0T.
• Quantitative (signal-to-noise ratio, susceptibility artifacts) and qualitative (image quality, spatial distortion) assessments were performed.

Main Results:

• The phantom demonstrated high inter-reader agreement for qualitative image assessment.
• Artifact trends observed in phantom images were comparable to those in clinical images across sequences.
• The phantom provided a practical and reproducible platform for evaluating DW-MRI sequences.

Conclusions:

• The developed prostate phantom is technically feasible for standardized qualitative evaluation of DW-MRI.
• This phantom facilitates reproducible assessment of signal-to-noise characteristics and image artifacts.
• The phantom aids in optimizing DW-MRI sequences for improved prostate imaging quality.