title: Concurrent MR blood volume and vessel size estimation in tumors by robust and simultaneous ΔR2 and ΔR2* quantification.
abstract: This work presents a novel method for concurrent estimation of the fractional blood volume and the mean vessel size of tumors based on a multi-gradient-echo-multi-spin-echo sequence and the injection of a super-paramagnetic blood-pool agent. The approach further comprises a post-processing technique for simultaneous estimation of changes in the transverse relaxation rates R(2) and R(2)*, which is robust against global B(0) and B(1) field inhomogeneities and slice imperfections. The accuracy of the simultaneous ΔR(2) and ΔR(2)* quantification approach is evaluated in a phantom. The simultaneous blood volume and vessel size estimates, obtained with MR, compare well to the immunohistological findings in a preclinical experiment (HT1080 cells, implanted in nude mice). Clinical translation is achieved in a patient with a pleomorphic sarcoma in the left pubic bone. The latter demonstrates the robustness of the technique against changes in the contrast agent concentration in blood during washout.
authors.affiliation: Philips Research, Hamburg, Germany. Stefanie.Remmele@philips.com
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Remmele
authors.forename: Janine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ring
authors.forename: Julien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sénégas
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Heindel
authors.forename: Rolf M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Mesters
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bremer
authors.forename: Thorsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Persigehl
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D001810:Blood Volume; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D051379:Mice; D009929:Organ Size; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology*; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous