MR thermometry

Minimally invasive thermal therapy as local treatment of benign and malignant diseases has received increasing interest in recent years. Safety and efficacy of the treatment require accurate temperature measurement throughout the thermal procedure. Noninvasive temperature monitoring is feasible with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging based on temperature‐sensitive MR parameters such as the proton resonance frequency (PRF), the diffusion coefficient (D), T 1 and T 2 relaxation times, magnetization transfer, the proton density, as well as temperature‐sensitive contrast agents. In this article the principles of temperature measurements with these methods are reviewed and their usefulness for monitoring in vivo procedures is discussed. Whereas most measurements give a temperature change relative to a baseline condition, temperature‐sensitive contrast agents and spectroscopic imaging can provide absolute temperature measurements. The excellent linearity and temperature dependence of the PRF and its near independence of tissue type have made PRF‐based phase mapping methods the preferred choice for many in vivo applications. Accelerated MRI imaging techniques for real‐time monitoring with the PRF method are discussed. Special attention is paid to acquisition and reconstruction methods for reducing temperature measurement artifacts introduced by tissue motion, which is often unavoidable during in vivo applications. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2008;27:376–390. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.