Shifting-field-of-view technique enhancing the inflow effect for identifying tumor/vessel boundaries in MRI for radiotherapy treatment planning

This study presents two cases of tumors in contact with the inferior vena cava during radiotherapy, and introduces a clinically useful technique for identifying tumor boundaries adjacent to blood vessels by adjusting the position of the field-of-view (FOV) to enhance the inflow effect in magnetic resonance imaging. We named this technique “Shifting-FOV.” This method consists of three steps: (1) remove the upper and lower saturation pulses outside the FOV, (2) align the FOV to position the lower edge of the imaging slab as close to the tumor as possible, and (3) manually adjust the table position to locate the tumor at the center of the magnetic field. The proposed method allowed for accurate identification of the tumor/vessel boundaries in both cases. This is a useful technique that can be readily applied to other facilities. Furthermore, images obtained using this technique may enable accurate tumor contouring in radiotherapy treatment planning.