弥散加权 MRI (dMRI) 被普遍推荐用于前列腺癌 (PCa) 的检测和分类，PI-RADS 建议获取 ≥1.4 ms/μm2 的 b 值。然而，由于梯度功率在 40-80 mT/m 范围内有限，回波时间 (TE) 延长，导致临床 dMRI 信噪比 (SNR) 较低。为了克服这个问题，人们设计了具有强梯度的 MRI 系统，但迄今为止主要应用于大脑。这项工作的目的是评估使用 300 mT/m 全身系统进行 PCa 测量的可行性、数据质量、SNR 和对比度噪声比 (CNR)。一组患有和诊断出 PCa 的男性在配备 300 mT/m 梯度幅度的仅供研究的 3T Connectom Siemens MRI 系统上进行成像。使用高梯度幅度获取高 b 值的 dMRI，并与模拟临床系统的梯度功能进行比较。评估通常用更强梯度放大的数据伪影并评估其校正。对 SNR 增益和病变与健康组织的 CNR 进行统计测试，研究方案和 b 值的效果。经验丰富的放射科医生使用 5 点李克特量表和改编的 PI-QUAL 评分系统对不同 dMRI 方案的图像诊断质量进行了评估。与临床梯度相比，前列腺 dMRI 的强梯度使得每单位时间的 SNR 显着增加。此外，观察到 CNR 增加了 1.6-2.1 倍。尽管通常与强梯度相关的更明显的伪影，仍然可以实现令人满意的校正。通过较短 TE 的协议获得了更平滑且偏差更小的参数图。这项研究的结果表明，使用全身 300 mT/m 扫描仪对 PCa 进行 dMRI 是可行的，无需报告生理效应，与较低梯度强度相比，SNR 和 CNR 可以得到改善，并且伪影不会抵消强梯度并且可以改善。这项评估为揭示尖端扫描仪的全部潜力（现已日益普及）迈出了重要的第一步，以提高早期检测和诊断精度。© 2024 作者。约翰·威利 (John Wiley) 出版的《生物医学中的核磁共振》

Diffusion-weighted MRI (dMRI) is universally recommended for the detection and classification of prostate cancer (PCa), with PI-RADS recommendations to acquire b-values of ≥1.4 ms/μm2. However, clinical dMRI suffers from a low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) as the consequence of prolonged echo times (TEs) attributable to the limited gradient power in the range of 40-80 mT/m. To overcome this, MRI systems with strong gradients have been designed but so far have mainly been applied in the brain. The aim of this work was to assess the feasibility, data quality, SNR and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of measurements in PCa with a 300 mT/m whole-body system. A cohort of men without and with diagnosed PCa were imaged on a research-only 3T Connectom Siemens MRI system equipped with a gradient amplitude of 300 mT/m. dMRI at high b-values were acquired using high gradient amplitudes and compared with gradient capabilities mimicking clinical systems. Data artefacts typically amplified with stronger gradients were assessed and their correction evaluated. The SNR gains and lesion-to-healthy tissue CNR were statistically tested investigating the effect of protocol and b-value. The diagnostic quality of the images for different dMRI protocols was assessed by an experienced radiologist using a 5-point Likert scale and an adapted PI-QUAL scoring system. The strong gradients for prostate dMRI allowed a significant gain in SNR per unit time compared with clinical gradients. Furthermore, a 1.6-2.1-fold increase in CNR was observed. Despite the more pronounced artefacts typically associated with strong gradients, a satisfactory correction could be achieved. Smoother and less biased parameter maps were obtained with protocols at shorter TEs. The results of this study show that dMRI in PCa with a whole-body 300-mT/m scanner is feasible without a report of physiological effects, SNR and CNR can be improved compared with lower gradient strengths, and artefacts do not negate the benefits of strong gradients and can be ameliorated. This assessment provides the first essential step towards unveiling the full potential of cutting-edge scanners, now increasingly becoming available, to advance early detection and diagnostic precision.© 2024 The Author(s). NMR in Biomedicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.