Distance-based assessment of spatial artifact extension in the prostate from fiducial markers in diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Fiducial markers in image-guided prostate cancer radiotherapy reduce geometric uncertainty during daily patient setup and enable assessment of target position changes. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for target delineation improves prostate cancer localization, beneficial for intraprostatic focal boost. Artifacts from fiducial markers on prostate diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI) need to be investigated, as they could be detrimental for target delineation. This study aims to determine the distances of artifact extensions caused by fiducial markers in DWI and in the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps and to assess how motion and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) influence the artifact size in ADC maps.

Materials and methods

Three phantoms were used:

SUBMITTER: Coskun M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12618179 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature