THE FIRST EXPERIENCE IN USING THE ULTRASOUND AND MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGE FUSION TECHNOLOGY IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF PROSTATE CANCER

Abstract

Objective: to study the feasibility of the image fusion technology to choose a target portion for needle biopsy in prostate cancer (PC). Subjects and methods. Ultrasound (US)-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided needle biopsies were made in 12 patients. All the patients underwent intravenous bolus-enhanced MRI, then MRI and US images were fused during transrectal ultrasound studies (TRUS) and targets were determined to make a needle biopsy. Results. The image fusion technology allows one to concurrently assess MRI and US images in the primary diagnosis of prostate cancer and after radical prostatectomy (RPE). The MRI and transrectal images are compared with a high degree of accuracy, providing the clear positioning of the portions substantially accumulating the MRI contrast agent during real-time TRUS. Conclusion. The MRI-US image fusion procedure enables the choice of the targets to be biopsied both in the primary diagnosis of PC and in its suspected recurrence in patients after RPE. The increased accumulation of a MRI contrast agent is a major criterion for choosing a target portion.