title: Optimizing functional parameter accuracy for breath-hold DCE-MRI of liver tumours.
abstract: Dynamic contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) is a valuable tool for assessing treatment response to novel cancer therapeutics. With appropriate data acquisition, quantitative functional parameter estimates can be obtained by fitting a model to the data. This research focuses on applying a dual-input single-compartment pharmacokinetic model to breath-hold DCE-MRI imaging of the liver. In this paper, the use of two breath-holds, providing greater temporal information, is compared with a single breath-hold approach. Computer simulations are used to assess the accuracy, precision and sensitivity to input function errors obtained for parameters estimated from the two imaging protocols. Data from ten patients were analysed to assess the noise statistics obtained from the two breath-hold protocols. The noise statistics were used with a pharmacokinetic liver model to simulate data, from which the estimation accuracy, precision and sensitivity for the two protocols were assessed. Data from the ten patients were also analysed, and the estimates were compared with literature values. This work demonstrates the feasibility of obtaining functional liver perfusion estimates over a 3D volume using a sequential breath-hold protocol. The simulation results show that the protocol consisting of two images per breath-hold is to be preferred as it requires identical patient co-operation, but provides parameter estimates that have superior accuracy and precision.
authors.affiliation: Cancer Research UK Clinical MR Research Group, Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5PT, UK. Matthew.Orton@icr.ac.uk
authors.forename: Matthew R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Orton
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Miyazaki
authors.forename: Dow-Mu
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Collins
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hawkes
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Atkinson
authors.forename: Martin O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Leach
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D003287:Contrast Media; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008954:Models, Biological; D012119:Respiration; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media