Department of Radiation Oncology, the Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Department of Radiation Oncology, Imaging Division, University Medical Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Magn Reson Med. 2019 May;81(5):3358-3369. doi: 10.1002/mrm.27646. Epub 2019 Jan 17.
The arterial input function (AIF) is a major source of uncertainty in tracer kinetic (TK) analysis of dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE)-MRI data. The aim of this study was to investigate the repeatability of AIFs extracted from the complex signal and of the resulting TK parameters in prostate cancer patients.
Twenty-two patients with biopsy-proven prostate cancer underwent a 3T MRI exam twice. DCE-MRI data were acquired with a 3D spoiled gradient echo sequence. AIFs were extracted from the magnitude of the signal (AIF ), phase (AIF ), and complex signal (AIF ). The Tofts model was applied to extract K , k and v . Repeatability of AIF curve characteristics and TK parameters was assessed with the within-subject coefficient of variation (wCV).
The wCV for peak height and full width at half maximum for AIF (7% and 8%) indicated an improved repeatability compared to AIF (12% and 12%) and AIF (12% and 7%). This translated in lower wCV values for K (11%) with AIF in comparison to AIF (24%) and AIF (15%). For k , the wCV was 16% with AIF , 13% with AIF , and 13% with AIF .
Repeatability of AIF and AIF is higher than for AIF , resulting in a better repeatability of TK parameters. Thus, use of either AIF or AIF improves the robustness of quantitative analysis of DCE-MRI in prostate cancer.
动脉输入函数（AIF）是动态对比增强（DCE）-MRI 数据示踪动力学（TK）分析中主要的不确定性来源。本研究旨在探讨从前列腺癌患者复杂信号中提取的 AIF 及其得出的 TK 参数的可重复性。
22 名经活检证实患有前列腺癌的患者进行了两次 3T MRI 检查。DCE-MRI 数据采用 3D 扰相梯度回波序列采集。从信号幅度（AIF）、相位（AIF）和复杂信号（AIF）中提取 AIF。应用 Tofts 模型提取 K、k 和 v。采用个体内变异系数（wCV）评估 AIF 曲线特征和 TK 参数的可重复性。
AIF 的峰值高度和半最大值全宽的 wCV（7%和 8%）表明其重复性优于 AIF（12%和 12%）和 AIF（12%和 7%）。这导致使用 AIF 时 K 的 wCV 值（11%）与 AIF（24%）和 AIF（15%）相比更低。对于 k，AIF 的 wCV 为 16%，AIF 的 wCV 为 13%，AIF 的 wCV 为 13%。
AIF 和 AIF 的重复性高于 AIF，从而使 TK 参数的重复性更好。因此，使用 AIF 或 AIF 均能提高前列腺癌 DCE-MRI 定量分析的稳健性。
