Susan M. Noworolski1,2,
Galen D. Reed1,2, John Kurhanewicz1, 2
1Radiology
& Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco, San
Francisco, CA, USA; 2Graduate Group in Bioengineering, University
of California, San Francisco & Berkeley, San Francisco & Berkeley,
CA, USA
It has been suggested that Gd-DTPA does not reach intact prostatic ducts. A novel pharmacokinetic model of the prostate incorporating Gd-inaccessible luminal water is presented. A feature of this Luminal Water model is that it allows for a slower washout, quite common in healthy and benign, glandular prostate tissues. Simulations and an example in vivo case demonstrate that the standard extended Tofts-Kermode model would greatly underestimate Ktrans and Vees in glandular tissues (14% - 44% in cases shown). Incorporation of the Gd-inaccessible luminal water may yield parameters more accurately reflecting underlying tissue and has promise for aiding prostate tissue characterization.
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