title: Quantitative evaluation of computed high B value diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging of the prostate.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Computed diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (cDWI) refers to the synthesizing of arbitrary b value diffusion-weighted images (DWI) from a set of measured b value images by voxelwise fitting. The objectives of this study were to quantitatively analyze the noise and the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) in cDWI as a function of b value by numerical simulations and by measurements in patients with prostate cancer and to compare cDWI to directly measured DWI at a b value of 1400 s/mm2.
  
  
  METHODS
  Numerical simulations were performed to assess image noise and CNR in both cDWI and regular DWI. Forty-two patients with prostate cancer (age, 51-73 years; prostate specific antigen level, 0.5-30 ng/mL; and biopsy Gleason score, 6-9) received 2 DWI examinations at 3.0 T (one with b values of 100, 500, and 1400 s/mm2 and another with b values of 0, 100, 400, and 800 s/mm2) to create cDWI images at arbitrary b values, both with and without incorporating a b value of 0 s/mm2 in their calculation. Regions of interest were drawn to compare the scan time adjusted CNR (CNR eff) between cDWI and directly measured DWI at b = 1400 s/mm2 on tumor-suspicious lesions and normal-appearing regions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the numerical simulations, noise depended strongly on the b value, the diffusion coefficient, and the signal intensity at a b value of 0 s/mm2 in cDWI but not in regular DWI. The CNR between simulated tumor and normal regions showed a continuous increase with increasing b value. Both these findings were also observed in tumor-suspicious and normal-appearing regions in in vivo data. In vivo prostate DWI at a b value of 1400 s/mm2 showed a similar CNR eff between the tumor-suspicious regions and the normal-appearing tissue in cDWI as in the directly measured DWI (P = 0.395).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The CNR eff between tumor-suspicious and normal-appearing prostate tissue in DWI images at a b value of 1400 s/mm2 is comparable in cDWI and directly measured DWI. Computed DWI at even higher b values, calculated from measured images with b values between 0 and 800 s/mm2, yields higher CNR eff than measured DWI, which may be of clinical aid in the management of prostate cancer.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Radiology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marnix C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Maas
authors.forename: Jurgen J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Fütterer
authors.forename: Tom W J
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Scheenen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D003198:Computer Simulation; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen