Caleb Roberts1,2, Ross A. Little1,2,
Yvonne Watson1,2, Sha Zhao1,2, David L. Buckley3,
Geoff J M Parker1,2
1Imaging Science and Biomedical
Engineering, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom, United
Kingdom; 2The Biomedical Imaging Institute, The University of
Manchester, Manchester, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom; 3Division
of Medical Physics, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
A
major potential confound in axial 3-D dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI)
studies is the blood inflow effect and therefore the choice of slice location
for arterial input function (AIF) measurement within the imaging volume must
be considered carefully. Using a
combination of computer simulations, flow phantom and in vivo studies we describe and understand the effect of blood
inflow on the measurement of the AIF.
We demonstrate that reliable AIFs are achievable in 3-D DCE-MRI but
the use of inflow affected AIFs in tracer kinetic modeling result in large
errors in tissue microvascular parameters.
Keywords