title: First-pass contrast-enhanced myocardial perfusion MRI using a maximum up-slope parametric map.
abstract: Magnetic resonance first-pass perfusion imaging offers a noninvasive method for the rapid, accurate, and reproducible assessment of cardiac function without ionizing radiation. Quantitative or semiquantitative analysis of changes in signal intensity (SI) over the whole image sequence yields a more efficient analysis than direct visual inspection. In this paper, a method to generate maximum up-slope myocardial perfusion maps is presented. The maximum up-slope is defined by comparison of the SI variations using frame-to-frame analysis. A map of first-pass transit of the contrast agent is constructed pixel by pixel using a linear curve fitting model. The proposed method was evaluated using data from eight subjects. The data from the parametric maps agreed well with those obtained from traditional, manually derived region-of-interest methods as shown through ANOVA. The straightforward implementation and increase in image analysis efficiency resulting from this method suggests that it may be useful for clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, TX 78229, USA. ruan@uthscsa.edu
authors.forename: Chun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ruan
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Geoffrey D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.forename: Maxwell R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Amurao
authors.forename: Scott R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Partyka
authors.forename: Yong C
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Bradley
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cusi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D003287:Contrast Media; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003326:Coronary Circulation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000150:complications* / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media