Abstract #2755

Improved Correlation to Quantitative DCE-MRI Pharmacokinetic Parameters Using a Modified Initial Area Under the Uptake Curve (MIAUC) Approach

Hai-Ling Margaret Cheng^1,2

¹Research Institute & Diagnostic Imaging, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; ²Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Non-model DCE-MRI parameters such as the initial area under the uptake curve (IAUC) do not require arterial input function (AIF) measurement or model-fitting, and can hence be more robust than pharmacokinetic modeling. However, the IAUC is intractably correlated with biological parameters such as the transfer constant Ktrans and interstitial space ve. Herein, a modified IAUC (mIAUC) method is presented. The mIAUC parameters are strongly correlated with true Ktrans and ve, and are outperformed by pharmacokinetic parameters only when a rapidly sampled AIF is used. The proposed mIAUC method retains advantages of non-model DCE-MRI while providing stronger correlation with underlying physiology.