ArticleJournal of applied clinical medical physics2026
Impact of MRI slice thickness and fiducial marker orientation on geometric accuracy in multi-echo GRE imaging for prostate radiotherapy planning.
Article in Journal of applied clinical medical physics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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2 citing papers in PubMed.
- In Regards to Hayashi et al. JACMP 27(8), e70741.Journal of applied clinical medical physics · 2026Article
- In Response to Zhang & You.Journal of applied clinical medical physics · 2026Article
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7 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPrecise target definition in prostate radiotherapy requires accurate computed tomography (CT)-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) image registration using gold fiducial markers (GFMs). While multi-echo gradient recalled echo (ME GRE) sequences facilitate GFM identification, the quantitative impact of acquisition parameters on physical measurement accuracy remains insufficiently understood. PURPOSE: This study evaluates how MRI slice thickness and marker orientation angle jointly affect GFM visualization and geometric accuracy to characterize the resulting localization uncertainties.
methodsA kiwifruit-based phantom (T1: 1603.3 ms; T2: 72.3 ms) that mimics the relaxation times of the human prostate was imaged with 3.0T MRI. Imaging was performed using a 3D ME GRE sequence with three slice thicknesses (1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 mm) and 12 orientation angles ranging from horizontal to 90°. Five multidisciplinary observers independently identified marker coordinates while blinded to the acquisition parameters. Subjective confidence scores were also recorded.
resultsTwo-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed significant main effects for slice thickness (F(2, 144) = 32.03, p < 0.001) and orientation angle (F(11, 144) = 4.06, p < 0.001), with significant interaction between them (F (22, 144) = 2.72, p < 0.001). Mean measurement errors with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were 0.96 mm (95% CI: 0.70-1.22) for 1.0 mm, 1.49 mm (95% CI: 1.23-1.75) for 2.0 mm, and 2.00 mm (95% CI: 1.74-2.26) for 3.0 mm slices. The peak error reached 3.10 mm under the combination of a 3.0 mm slice and 15° orientation. Subjective confidence scores showed a significant negative correlation with physical measurement errors (r = -0.296, p < 0.001).
conclusionsMRI slice thickness and marker orientation significantly impact GFM visualization accuracy. The results suggest that a 1.0 mm slice thickness offers a technical advantage for maintaining sub-millimeter localization accuracy across various marker orientations and highly desirable for high-precision radiotherapy planning.
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