Thomas Dennis C, Deichmann Ralf, Nöth Ulrike, Langkammer Christian, Ferreira Mónica, Golbach Rejane, Hattingen Elke, Wenger Katharina J
Institute of Neuroradiology, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
University Cancer Center Frankfurt (UCT), Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Neurooncol Adv. 2024 Jul 4;6(1):vdae117. doi: 10.1093/noajnl/vdae117. eCollection 2024 Jan-Dec.
Multiparametric quantitative MRI (mp-qMRI) provides noninvasive, quantitative measurements sensitive to a variety of tissue properties. In brain tumors (BTs), longitudinal relaxation time (T1), effective transverse relaxation time (T2*), transverse relaxation time (T2), water content (HO), and quantitative susceptibility (χ) give valuable insights into the microenvironment. To generate large multicenter datasets, protocols need to be short and implementable on any scanner. The goal of this work was to develop and validate an 8-min, 3T mp-qMRI protocol for BT patients solely using generalized pulse sequences (mGRE and EPI).
A protocol was developed and tested on a multicompartment phantom, 5 healthy subjects and 4 BT patients . Phantom and healthy subject longitudinal relaxation time (T1) maps were compared to those obtained using 2 reference methods. The 5 healthy subjects were scanned on 3T MRI scanners at 2 different sites and the reproducibility between scanners was assessed by computing Coefficients of Variance (COV) maps, performing Bland-Altman analysis and -tests. Clinical feasibility was tested on 4 BT patients.
T1 values obtained using the proposed mp-qMRI protocol agree with those obtained using the reference methods in volunteers . The qMRI maps (T1, T2*, HO, and ) of the volunteers showed good reproducibility between scanners with no significant differences for mean WM and GM qMRI values. WM and GM mean qMRI values agreed well with literature values. HO gave the lowest COV and maps the highest.
The proposed vendor sequence-based 3T mp-qMRI protocol gives interpolated, high resolution T1, T2*, HO, and maps in 8 min of acquisition.
多参数定量磁共振成像（mp-qMRI）可提供对多种组织特性敏感的无创定量测量。在脑肿瘤（BT）中，纵向弛豫时间（T1）、有效横向弛豫时间（T2*）、横向弛豫时间（T2）、含水量（HO）和定量磁化率（χ）能深入了解微环境。为生成大型多中心数据集，协议需简短且可在任何扫描仪上实施。本研究的目的是开发并验证一种仅使用广义脉冲序列（mGRE和EPI）的针对BT患者的8分钟3T mp-qMRI协议。
开发了一种协议，并在多腔模体、5名健康受试者和4名BT患者身上进行测试。将模体和健康受试者的纵向弛豫时间（T1）图与使用两种参考方法获得的图进行比较。5名健康受试者在2个不同地点的3T MRI扫描仪上进行扫描，并通过计算方差系数（COV）图、进行Bland-Altman分析和检验来评估扫描仪之间的可重复性。在4名BT患者身上测试临床可行性。
使用所提出的mp-qMRI协议获得的T1值与志愿者中使用参考方法获得的值一致。志愿者的qMRI图（T1、T2*、HO和χ）在扫描仪之间显示出良好的可重复性，白质和灰质qMRI均值无显著差异。白质和灰质qMRI均值与文献值吻合良好。HO的COV最低，χ图的COV最高。
所提出的基于供应商序列的3T mp-qMRI协议在8分钟采集时间内可生成插值的高分辨率T1、T2*、HO和χ图。
