DCE‐MRI pixel‐by‐pixel quantitative curve pattern analysis and its application to osteosarcoma

Abstract

Purpose: To present a novel curve pattern analysis (CPA) method to characterize and quantify signal curves from the dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data without any prerequisites such as arterial input function (AIF) or T 1 measurement. Materials and Methods:CPA parameters represent characteristics of the scaled DCE signal curve. Simulations were performed to investigate the dependence of CPA parameters on T 1 , TR, and flip angle. In vivo studies were performed on five pediatric patients with osteosarcoma. Parametric maps were generated using the CPA method and a pharmacokinetic model-based method for comparison.Results: Simulations show that CPA parameters varied less than 2% when T 1 changed from 300 msec to 1500 msec, and less than 10% when the flip angle changed from 30°to 40°. Various curve patterns can be qualitatively identified and recognized from CPA parameter maps. Simulation and in vivo studies showed that the CPA parameter had a strong correlation with k ep , with correlation coefficients of 0.9983 in the simulation and 0.95 in the in vivo studies. Conclusion:A novel CPA method is presented. Simulations and in vivo studies showed that the CPA method provides a feasible alternative to quantifying DCE-MRI studies with possibly higher repeatability by minimizing variations potentially induced by AIF and T 1 estimations and model dependence.

Musculoskeletal Tumors: How to Use Anatomic, Functional, and Metabolic MR Techniques

“…Perfusion imaging sequences are used for providing insight into the vascularity of a tumor and can be accomplished with a variety of pulse sequences, including DW sequences (31), unenhanced perfusion sequences (60,61), and the most commonly implemented dynamic contrastenhanced sequence (62)(63)(64)(65)(66)(67)(68)(69)(70)(71)(72)(73)(74)(75)(76)(77)(78)(79)(80). Perfusion imaging with dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging is the most popular technique at this time, since other techniques have not been well explored for musculoskeletal tumors.…”

Standardized Index of Shape (SIS): a quantitative DCE-MRI parameter to discriminate responders by non-responders after neoadjuvant therapy in LARC

“…This approach could be more robust in clinical settings, since many critical issues of quantitative analysis are attenuated. However, semi-quantitative parameters do not have a direct interpretation in terms of physiological characteristics [17,18]. Previous DCE-MRI studies have investigated shape descriptors for non-invasive response assessment in various malignancies, including rectal cancer [12,13,17,18].…”

Retinoblastoma: Value of Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MR Imaging and Correlation with Tumor Angiogenesis

“…The parameter obtained with curve-pattern analysis has a strong correlation with k ep . 16 Because k ep has been shown to be sensitive to treatment in previous literature, 17,18 this finding suggests a similar role for .…”

“…15 This, however, requires determination of both an arterial input function and precontrast T1 relaxation times, which were not included in the current protocol. Recently, Guo and Reddick 16 proposed a curve-pattern analysis based only on the dynamic measurements, yielding a -value, which showed a close correlation with the rate constant k ep , which is defined as…”