Ultrafast DCE-MRI detects sparse enhancement during the early phase of contrast media uptake [8]. This facilitates reconstruction of arteries and lesions using partial k-space data to obtain even higher temporal resolution. In addition, new approaches to tracking blood vessels in breast [10] identify arteries feeding suspicious lesions and possibly also draining veins. As a result, tumor blood flow can be accurately measured from propagation of the contrast media bolus along arteries that supply tumors. This approach avoids assumptions and artifacts that are inherent in pharmacokinetic analysis, and facilitates measurement of important biomarkers, e.g. capillary permeability and interstitial pressure.
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