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Fast PRF-based MR thermometry using double-echo EPI: in vivo comparison in a clinical hyperthermia setting

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Abstract

Objective

To develop and test in a clinical setting a double-echo segmented echo planar imaging (DEPI) pulse sequence for proton resonance frequency (PRF)-based temperature monitoring that is faster than conventional PRF thermometry pulse sequences and not affected by thermal changes in tissue conductivity.

Materials and methods

Four tumor patients underwent between one and nine magnetic resonance (MR)-guided regional hyperthermia treatments. During treatment, the DEPI sequence and a FLASH PRF sequence were run in an interleaved manner to compare the results from both sequences in the same patients and same settings. Temperature maps were calculated based on the phase data of both sequences. Temperature measurements of both techniques were compared using Passing and Bablok regression and the Bland–Altman method.

Results

The temperature results from the DEPI and FLASH sequences, on average, do not differ by more than ΔT = 1 °C. DEPI images showed typically more artifacts and approximately a twofold lower signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), but a sufficient temperature precision of 0.5°, which would theoretically allow for a fivefold higher frame rate.

Conclusion

The results indicate that DEPI can replace slower temperature measurement techniques for PRF-based temperature monitoring during thermal treatments. The higher acquisition speed can be exploited for hot spot localization during regional hyperthermia as well as for temperature monitoring during fast thermal therapies.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the BMBF, Eurostars Project E!6620 PROFUS. The authors would like to thank Denis Kokorin and Maxim Zaitsev for their help in MR sequence programming.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical standard

The patient studies were approved by the local ethics committee of the University Hospital Tübingen (UKT) and have, therefore, been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. All persons gave their informed consent prior to their inclusion in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medical Physics, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Breisacher Str. 60a, 79106, Freiburg, Germany

    Tetiana Dadakova, John Matthew Pavlina, Jürgen Hennig & Michael Bock

  2. Department of Radiation Oncology, University Hospital Tübingen, Hoppe-Seyler Str. 3, 72076, Tübingen, Germany

    Johanna Gellermann & Otilia Voigt

  3. Department of Microsystems Engineering, IMTEK, University of Freiburg, Georges-Köhler-Allee 103, 79110, Freiburg, Germany

    Jan Gerrit Korvink

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  1. Tetiana Dadakova
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Correspondence to Tetiana Dadakova.

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Dadakova, T., Gellermann, J., Voigt, O. et al. Fast PRF-based MR thermometry using double-echo EPI: in vivo comparison in a clinical hyperthermia setting. Magn Reson Mater Phy 28, 305–314 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10334-014-0467-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10334-014-0467-y

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