Importance of Prostatic Fluid on the Apparent Diffusion Coefficient: An IR-Prepared Diffusion-Weighted Investigation of Healthy Prostates

Motivation: The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of prostate tissue is generally higher than that of prostate cancer. We hypothesized that the presence of prostatic fluid is partly responsible for the higher ADC. Goal(s): To elucidate the value of this hypothesis with diffusion-T1-relaxation experiments. Approach: Diffusion-weighted data of ten healthy participants’ prostates were sampled with a range of IR times and fitted to a two-compartment model (tissue & fluid). Results: The ADC(TI) dependency was characteristic of the two-compartment model. ADC(TI) increased with TI from 0 to roughly 1,200 ms, then flipped to smaller ADC values and then approached an asymptotic value at large TI. Impact: This study contributes to a better understanding of prostate DWI contrast. The observed ADC(TI) dependence may be exploited for improved DWI-based prostate cancer diagnostics.