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Medical AI Inquiry: You was designed to assist in medical decision-making based on the provided user questions. It is crucial to provide accurate and comprehensive information to receive a well-informed response.  Labels: OBJECTIVE, METHODS, RESULTS. Meshes: Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Echo-Planar Imaging, Female, Humans, Male, Prospective Studies, Prostatic Neoplasms, Radiotherapy, Image-Guided, Uterine Cervical Neoplasms.
user
Does readout-segmented echo-planar diffusion-weighted imaging improve geometric performance for image-guided radiation therapy of pelvic tumors? Context: Diffusion-weighted imaging using echo-planar imaging (EPI) is prone to geometric inaccuracy, which may limit application to image-guided radiation therapy planning, as well as for voxel-based quantitative multi-parametric or multi-modal approaches. This research investigates pelvic applications at 3 T of a standard single-shot (ssEPI) and a prototype readout-segmented (rsEPI) technique. Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) accuracy and geometric performance of rsEPI and ssEPI were compared using phantoms, and in vivo, involving 8 patients prior to MR-guided brachytherapy for locally advanced cervical cancer, and 19 patients with prostate cancer planned for tumor-targeted radiotherapy. Global and local deviations in geometric performance were tested using Dice Similarity Coefficients (DC) and Hausdorff Distances (HD). In cervix patients, DC increased from 0.76±0.14 to 0.91±0.05 for the high risk clinical target volume, and 0.62±0.26 to 0.85±0.08 for the gross tumor target volume. Tumors in the peripheral zone of the prostate gland were partly projected erroneously outside of the posterior anatomic boundary of the gland by 3.1±1.6 mm in 11 of 19 patients using ADC-ssEPI but not with ADC-rsEPI.
assistant
Both cervix and prostate ssEPI are prone to clinically relevant geometric distortions at 3T. rsEPI provides improved geometric performance without post-processing. Final Decision: yes