Feasibility of Novel Three-Dimensional Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting of the Prostate Gland: Phantom and Clinical Studies

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the feasibility of a new three-dimensional (3D) MR fingerprinting (MRF) technique for the prostate gland by conducting phantom and clinical studies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The new 3D MRF technique used in this study enables quick data acquisition and has a high resolution. For the phantom study, the MRF T1 and T2 values in an in-house phantom were compared with those of gold-standard mapping methods using linear regression analysis. For the clinical study, we evaluated 90 patients who underwent prostate imaging with MRF for suspected prostate cancer between September 2019 and February 2020. The mean T1 and T2 values were compared in the peripheral zone, transition zone, and focal lesions using paired t tests. The differences in the T1 and T2 values according to cancer aggressiveness were evaluated using one-way analysis of variance. RESULTS: In the phantom study, the MRF T1 and T2 values showed a perfect correlation with the gold-standard T1 and T2 values (R > 0.99). In the clinical study, the T1 and T2 values in the peripheral zone were significantly higher than those in the transitional zone (p < 0.001, both). The T1 and T2 values in prostate cancer were significantly lower than those in the peripheral and transitional zones. The higher the grade of cancer, the lower the T2 values. CONCLUSION: The T1 and T2 values obtained from the 3D MRF showed a perfect correlation with the gold standard values in the phantom study. Differences in the T1 and T2 values among the different zones of the prostate gland were identified using 3D MRF in patients.