Transrectal surface coil imaging of the prostate

MR imaging of the prostate has been limited by body coil technique. A transrectal receive-only surface coil was constructed about a barium enema balloon catheter to provide high-resolution (5-mm section, 0.95-mm pixel) prostate images with improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio of 40% over that achieved with body coil images. On T2-weighted images of 11 patients with prostatic carcinoma the neoplasm appeared hypointense in the peripheral zone. This appearance may be related to fibrous stromal proliferation and acinar atrophy. Benign hypertrophy was hyperintense in the transitional zone in eight patients. Transrectal MR images were comparable to transrectal US scans