Comparison of concurrently acquired in vivo 3D ARFI and SWEI images of the prostate

In the prostate, ARFI and SWEI imaging methods have reported that cancer and other pathologies as being stiffer than the surrounding tissue. A three-dimensional in vivo prostatic imaging system capable of concurrently acquiring ARFI and SWEI data was developed to compare the information available in the two image types. Data were acquired in a calibrated CIRS phantom to analyze the contrast, contrast to noise ratio (CNR), and resolution between the ARFI and SWEI images; SWEI images provided improved contrast and CNR, but lower spatial resolution than ARFI images. Challenges and potential artifacts in both the ARFI and SWEI images have been identified and reduced by viewing coronal sections and maximum value SWEI images, resulting in high correlation between the normalized ARFI displacement magnitude and the estimated shear wave speed. We have demonstrated that this combined ARFI and SWEI imaging system can image the anatomy of the prostate.