--- title: How do I know if I need a prostate MRI? description: More urologists are using prostate MRI for their patients. Do you need a prostate MRI? Dr. David Titelbaum at Shields MRI helps to answer this question. image: https://info.shields.com/hubfs/BLOG/9.21%20Prostate%20MRI.png --- Select Language Afrikaans Albanian Amharic Arabic Armenian Azerbaijani Basque Belarusian Bengali Bosnian Bulgarian Catalan Cebuano Chichewa Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Traditional) Corsican Croatian Czech Danish Dutch English Esperanto Estonian Filipino Finnish French Frisian Galician Georgian German Greek Gujarati Haitian Creole Hausa Hawaiian Hebrew Hindi Hmong Hungarian Icelandic Igbo Indonesian Irish Italian Japanese Javanese Kannada Kazakh Khmer Korean Kurdish (Kurmanji) Kyrgyz Lao Latin Latvian Lithuanian Luxembourgish Macedonian Malagasy Malay Malayalam Maltese Maori Marathi Mongolian Myanmar (Burmese) Nepali Norwegian Pashto Persian Polish Portuguese Punjabi Romanian Russian Samoan Scottish Gaelic Serbian Sesotho Shona Sindhi Sinhala SlovakSlovenianSomaliSpanishSudaneseSwahiliSwedishTajikTamilTeluguThaiTurkishUkrainianUrduUzbekVietnameseWelshXhosaYiddishYorubaZulu Search for: [![Shields Health Care Group](https://info.shields.com/hubfs/Shields_February2019/Images/logo_main.png) ](https://shields.com/) Select Language Afrikaans Albanian Amharic Arabic Armenian Azerbaijani Basque Belarusian Bengali Bosnian Bulgarian Catalan Cebuano Chichewa Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Traditional) Corsican Croatian Czech Danish Dutch English Esperanto Estonian Filipino Finnish French Frisian Galician Georgian German Greek Gujarati Haitian Creole Hausa Hawaiian Hebrew Hindi Hmong Hungarian Icelandic Igbo Indonesian Irish Italian Japanese Javanese Kannada Kazakh Khmer Korean Kurdish (Kurmanji) Kyrgyz Lao Latin Latvian Lithuanian Luxembourgish Macedonian Malagasy Malay Malayalam Maltese Maori Marathi Mongolian Myanmar (Burmese) Nepali Norwegian Pashto Persian Polish Portuguese Punjabi Romanian Russian Samoan Scottish Gaelic Serbian Sesotho Shona Sindhi Sinhala SlovakSlovenianSomaliSpanishSudaneseSwahiliSwedishTajikTamilTeluguThaiTurkishUkrainianUrduUzbekVietnameseWelshXhosaYiddishYorubaZulu # How do I know if I need a prostate MRI? 9.24.19 ![9.21 Prostate MRI](https://info.shields.com/hs-fs/hubfs/BLOG/9.21%20Prostate%20MRI.png?width=746&name=9.21%20Prostate%20MRI.png) Prostate cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in men. Prostate cancer that is detected early, when it’s still confined to the prostate, has a better chance of successful treatment. That’s where a [multiparametric prostate MRI ](http://go.shields.com/prostateMRI)comes in. [Multiparametric prostate MRI (mpMRI) ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-dE2c0JR0M)greatly improves the accuracy of the diagnosis and management of prostate cancer. Compared with alternative tests that can be intrusive and painful, mpMRI is a standard MRI that usually does not require placement of an endorectal coil. mpMRI also improves accuracy of tumor detection and reduces the number of biopsies needed. We use three different types of imaging to investigate the tissue. The first assesses the water content of the tissue, the second assesses the cell density of the tissue, and the third assesses the vascularity of the tissue. By integrating these three components, we are able to identify if there is a tumor and define its location. **What are the indications for mpMRI?** - Elevated or rising PSA with negative biopsy - Elevated PSA prior to biopsy - Tumor staging - Detection of recurrent disease **How will I know if I need an mpMRI?** - My PSA is elevated and my doctor wants to see what is there prior to biopsy - My doctor felt a nodule - Prior biopsies were negative but my PSA continues to rise - Prior biopsies found cancer and my urologist wants to stage it - I was previously treated for prostate cancer but my PSA level is rising If a tumor is detected at mpMRI, patients will may then undergo [Ultrasound-MRI fusion-guided prostate biopsy.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URHc_Lp-o8Y)  This method fuses MRI images with ultrasound images, allowing the suspect tumor that was identified during mpMRI to be overlayed upon the ultrasound images in real-time. Using this method, the urologist can then directly [target the biopsy](https://info.shields.com/prostate-cancer-how-shields-mri-plays-a-role-in-better-biopsies) to that area. Shields has been a long-time leader in prostate MRIs beginning in 1992, and has been an early adopter with extensive mpMRI experience since 2011. We work closely with urologists and radiation oncologists by interpreting mpMRI, identifying suspicious lesions, staging disease, and performing biopsy planning and lesion segmentation, thereby greatly enhancing diagnostic and treatment planning. Shields also provides advanced PET-CT imaging using [Axumin ](https://www.info.greaterbostonurology.com/blog/the-axumin-pet-scan-what-you-need-to-know?utm_content=98066349&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&hss_channel=fbp-451256491578370)to further refine diagnosis in difficult cases. Regular screenings and early detection are the keys to beating prostate cancer. Shield’s experience in mpMRI has greatly enhanced our ability to improve diagnosis and treatment and give affected men a better chance at long-term survival.   ### Archives - [August 2010 (10)](https://info.shields.com/archive/2010/08) - [September 2010 (8)](https://info.shields.com/archive/2010/09) - [November 2010 (4)](https://info.shields.com/archive/2010/11) - [October 2010 (3)](https://info.shields.com/archive/2010/10) - [December 2012 (2)](https://info.shields.com/archive/2012/12) ### Latest Posts ### Posts by Category - [MRI (40)](https://info.shields.com/topic/mri) - [Shields MRI (20)](https://info.shields.com/topic/shields-mri) - [PET/CT (19)](https://info.shields.com/topic/petct) - [sports (15)](https://info.shields.com/topic/sports) - [radiology (14)](https://info.shields.com/topic/radiology) - [MR (11)](https://info.shields.com/topic/mr) - [Shields (11)](https://info.shields.com/topic/shields) - [cost (10)](https://info.shields.com/topic/cost) - [imaging (10)](https://info.shields.com/topic/imaging) - 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