Reduced field-of-view and multi-shot DWI acquisition techniques: Prospective evaluation of image quality and distortion reduction in prostate cancer imaging

To prospectively compare image quality and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) quantification for reduced field-of-view (rFOV)- and multi-shot echo-planar imaging (msEPI)-based diffusion weighted imaging (DWI), using single-shot echo-planar-imaging (ssEPI) DWI as the reference.Under IRB approval and after informed consent, msEPI, rFOV, and ssEPI DWI acquisitions were prospectively added to clinical prostate MRI exams at 3.0 T. Image distortion was quantitatively evaluated by root-mean-squared displacement (dTwenty-five patients were included (15 with proven sites of cancer). Average drFOV and msEPI DWI techniques achieved reduction in image distortion, improvement in image quality, and maintained reproducible ADC quantification compared to the standard ssEPI.