Endorectal MRI: Use in Prostate Cancer
Srivastava A., Grover S., Sooriakumaran P., Tewari A.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has widespread applications in human radiology, including prostate cancer. Endorectal coils either alone or in combination with phased-array surface coils have enabled increasingly accurate evaluation of extraprostatic extension and seminal vesicle involvement of prostate cancer Today, endorectal MRI (eMRI) has applications in diagnosis, staging, pretreatment planning, and follow-up of prostate cancer. Recently, the addition of functional sequences (perfusion imaging, diffusion imaging, and spectroscopy) to the morphological T2-weighted imaging has enhanced the ability of MRI to differentiate between tumoral and normal tissue. Endorectal coils are preferably used in obtaining these functional sequences as they better receive signals close to the prostate, and thus a higher signal to noise ratio (SNR) can be obtained without sacrificing an already low spatial resolution. Future work is focusing on the fields of MR-guided biopsies, multiparametric MRI, and lymphotrophic nanoparticle MRI. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.