title: Assessing the accuracy and reproducibility of modality independent elastography in a murine model of breast cancer.
abstract: Cancer progression has been linked to mechanics. Therefore, there has been recent interest in developing noninvasive imaging tools for cancer assessment that are sensitive to changes in tissue mechanical properties. We have developed one such method, modality independent elastography (MIE), that estimates the relative elastic properties of tissue by fitting anatomical image volumes acquired before and after the application of compression to biomechanical models. The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy and reproducibility of the method using phantoms and a murine breast cancer model. Magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired, and the MIE method was used to estimate relative volumetric stiffness. Accuracy was assessed using phantom data by comparing to gold-standard mechanical testing of elasticity ratios. Validation error was [Formula: see text]. Reproducibility analysis was performed on animal data, and within-subject coefficients of variation ranged from 2 to 13% at the bulk level and 32% at the voxel level. To our knowledge, this is the first study to assess the reproducibility of an elasticity imaging metric in a preclinical cancer model. Our results suggest that the MIE method can reproducibly generate accurate estimates of the relative mechanical stiffness and provide guidance on the degree of change needed in order to declare biological changes rather than experimental error in future therapeutic studies.
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt University , Department of Biomedical Engineering, PMB 351631, 2301 Vanderbilt Place, Nashville, Tennessee 37235-1631, United States ; Vanderbilt University , Institute of Imaging Science, 1161 21st Avenue South, AA-1105 MCN, Nashville, Tennessee 37232-2310, United States ; Vanderbilt University , Radiology and Radiological Sciences, 1161 21st Avenue South, MCN CCC-1118, Nashville, Tennessee 37232-2675, United States.
authors.forename: Jared A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Weis
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt University , Department of Biomedical Engineering, PMB 351631, 2301 Vanderbilt Place, Nashville, Tennessee 37235-1631, United States.
authors.forename: Katelyn M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Flint
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt University , Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, 2220 Pierce Avenue, 691 PRB, Nashville, Tennessee 37232-6838, United States.
authors.forename: Violeta
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sanchez
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt University , Department of Biomedical Engineering, PMB 351631, 2301 Vanderbilt Place, Nashville, Tennessee 37235-1631, United States ; Vanderbilt University , Institute of Imaging Science, 1161 21st Avenue South, AA-1105 MCN, Nashville, Tennessee 37232-2310, United States ; Vanderbilt University , Radiology and Radiological Sciences, 1161 21st Avenue South, MCN CCC-1118, Nashville, Tennessee 37232-2675, United States ; Vanderbilt University , Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, 2220 Pierce Avenue, 691 PRB, Nashville, Tennessee 37232-6838, United States ; Vanderbilt University , Physics and Astronomy, PMB 401807, 2301 Vanderbilt Place, Nashville, Tennessee 37240-1807, United States ; Vanderbilt University , Cancer Biology, 2220 Pierce Avenue, 771 PRB, Nashville, Tennessee 37232-6840, United States.
authors.forename: Thomas E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Yankeelov
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt University , Department of Biomedical Engineering, PMB 351631, 2301 Vanderbilt Place, Nashville, Tennessee 37235-1631, United States ; Vanderbilt University , Institute of Imaging Science, 1161 21st Avenue South, AA-1105 MCN, Nashville, Tennessee 37232-2310, United States ; Vanderbilt University , Radiology and Radiological Sciences, 1161 21st Avenue South, MCN CCC-1118, Nashville, Tennessee 37232-2675, United States ; Vanderbilt University , Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, 2220 Pierce Avenue, 691 PRB, Nashville, Tennessee 37232-6838, United States ; Vanderbilt University , Neurosurgery, T-4224 MCN Nashville, Tennessee 37232-2380, United States.
authors.forename: Michael I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Miga
keywords: breast cancer; computational modeling; elastography; magnetic resonance imaging; mechanical properties