Partial Fourier in the presence of respiratory motion in prostate diffusion-weighted echo planar imaging

Purpose To investigate the effect of respiratory motion in terms of signal loss in prostate diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), and to evaluate the usage of partial Fourier in a free-breathing protocol in a clinically relevant b -value range using both single-shot and multi-shot acquisitions. Methods A controlled breathing DWI acquisition was first employed at 3 T to measure signal loss from deep breathing patterns. Single-shot and multi-shot (2-shot) acquisitions without partial Fourier (no pF) and with partial Fourier (pF) factors of 0.75 and 0.65 were employed in a free-breathing protocol. The apparent SNR and ADC values were evaluated in 10 healthy subjects to measure if low pF factors caused low apparent SNR or overestimated ADC. Results Controlled breathing experiments showed a difference in signal coefficient of variation between shallow and deep breathing. In free-breathing single-shot acquisitions, the pF 0.65 scan showed a significantly ( p