title: Fast 3D T2 -weighted imaging using variable flip angle transition into driven equilibrium (3D T2 -TIDE) balanced SSFP for prostate imaging at 3T.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Three-dimensional (3D) T2 -weighted fast spin echo (FSE) imaging of the prostate currently requires long acquisition times. Our objective was to develop a fast 3D T2 -weighted sequence for prostate imaging at 3T using a variable flip angle transition into driven equilibrium (T2 -TIDE) scheme.
  
  
  METHODS
  3D T2 -TIDE uses interleaved spiral-out phase encode ordering to efficiently sample the ky -kz phase encodes and also uses the transient balanced steady-state free precession signal to acquire the center of k-space for T2 -weighted imaging. Bloch simulations and images from 10 healthy subjects were acquired to evaluate the performance of 3D T2 -TIDE compared to 3D FSE.
  
  
  RESULTS
  3D T2 -TIDE images were acquired in 2:54 minutes compared to 7:02 minutes for 3D FSE with identical imaging parameters. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) efficiency was significantly higher for 3D T2 -TIDE compared to 3D FSE in nearly all tissues, including periprostatic fat (45 ± 12 vs. 31 ± 7, P < 0.01), gluteal fat (48 ± 8 vs. 41 ± 10, P = 0.12), right peripheral zone (20 ± 4 vs. 16 ± 8, P = 0.12), left peripheral zone (17 ± 2 vs. 12 ± 3, P < 0.01), and anterior fibromuscular stroma (12 ± 4 vs. 4 ± 2, P < 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  3D T2 -TIDE images of the prostate can be acquired quickly with SNR efficiency that exceeds that of 3D FSE.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.|Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
authors.forename: Subashini
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Srinivasan
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.|Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.|Biomedical Physics Interdepartmental Program, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
authors.forename: Holden H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.|Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
authors.forename: Kyunghyun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel J A
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Margolis
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.|Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.|Biomedical Physics Interdepartmental Program, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Ennis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted
keywords: 3D T2-TIDE; 3D T2-weighted imaging; 3D prostate imaging; variable flip angle