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Julia Markus¹, Po-Wah So², Harpreet Hyare³, and Penny Cristinacce^4
1Centre for Medical Imaging, UCL, London, United Kingdom, ²Department of Neuroimaging,Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, United Kingdom, ³Radiology Department, University College London, London, United Kingdom, ⁴Division of Cancer Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom

Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, Challenges, Consensus

A web-based survey was developed from the “Steps on the Path to Clinical Translation” workshop, at the British & Irish Chapter-ISMRM conference held on 7^th September 2022. The survey explored the UK MRI community’s perspective on the clinical translation of quantitative MR imaging biomarkers. Three main themes emerged from the results: the need for 1) consensus; continued development of resources that unite existing work and improve shared lexicon; 2) context dependency; defining the steps to clinical translation, in ways that appreciate the uniqueness of the imaging biomarker and the clinical question; 3) a clearer definition of imaging biomarker expectation or product profile. 

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Makoto Obara¹, Osamu Togao², Lena Vaclavu³, Ryoji Mikayama⁴, Tatsuhiro Wada⁴, Shota Ishida⁵, Hiroshi Hamano¹, Matthias J.P. van Osch³, Kim van de Ven⁶, Yu Ueda¹, Jihun Kwon¹, Masami Yoneyama¹, and Marc Van Cauteren^7
1Philips Japan, Tokyo, Japan, ²Department of Molecular Imaging & Diagnosis, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan, ³C.J. Gorter MRI Center, Department of Radiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands, ⁴Division of Radiology, Department of Medical Technology, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan, ⁵Department of Radiological Technology, Faculty of medical sciences, Kyoto College of Medical Science, Kyoto, Japan, ⁶Philips Healthcare, Best, Netherlands, ⁷Philips Healthcare, Tokyo, Japan

Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, Perfusion, ASL

To accurately calculate cerebral blood flow (CBF) and arterial transit time (ATT), there are two kinds of time-efficient approaches in use for multi-delay pseudo-continuous arterial spin labelling: time-encoded and sequential variable-TR. Hybrid schemes have recently been proposed that exploit the strengths of these approaches, but they have not been evaluated head-to-head, and the purpose of this study is therefore to investigate the clinical validity of hybrid schemes. The SNR, CBF and ATT were measured and compared in seven healthy subjects. A higher SNR was obtained in the hybrid scheme with high correlation coefficients with other ATT schemes, suggesting quantitative ability.

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Iris Asllani^1,2, Balázs Örzsik¹, Samira Bouyagoub¹, Joseph Woods³, Itamar Ronen¹, Guillaume Madelin⁴, and Mara Cercignani^5
1University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom, ²Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, United States, ³University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, ⁴New York University, New York, NY, United States, ⁵Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom

Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, Neuro, Sodium MRI, fMRI, Arterial Spin Labeling, Partial Volume Correction

Sodium MRI was combined with arterial spin labeling (ASL) perfusion MRI to detect changes in total sodium concentration (TSC) and cerebral blood flow (CBF) associated with visual tast activation on 6 healthy volunteers. There was no overlap between the areas in the visual cortex where there was a significant change in CBF (~38%) and the regions where a change (~11%) in TSC was detected. Results from partial volume correction indicate that most of the changes in TSC originated in the white matter. 

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Mehran Baboli^1,2, Fuyixue Wang^1,2, Zijing Dong^1,2, Jorg Dietrich^2,3, Erik Uhlmann^2,4, Tracy Batchelor^2,5,6, Daniel Cahill^2,7, and Ovidiu C. Andronesi^1,2
1Radiology, A. A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA, United States, ²Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States, ³Neurology, Division of Neuro-Oncology, Boston, MA, United States, ⁴Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States, ⁵Neurology, Brigham’s and Women Hospital, Boston, MA, United States, ⁶Neuro-Oncology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, United States, ⁷Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States

Keywords: Tumors, Spectroscopy

Quantification of metabolite concentration is the primary concern in clinical MR Spectroscopic Imaging which is valuable to assess disease pathology. Absolute metabolite quantification requires correction of MRSI signal for T1/T2 relaxation and proton density, which due to time limitations are not measured in the subject of interest but assumed to be constant across all voxels based on assumed literature values. Here, we integrated 3D-Echo-Planar Time-resolved Imaging (3D-EPTI) that allows fast MR-fingerprinting of T1, T2 and PD with fast MRSI metabolic imaging in each subject. The metabolite quantification based on voxel-based MRF was compared to literature based relaxations and PD values.

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Sawwal Qayyum¹, Jin Zhang¹, and Gene Kim^1
1Radiology, Weill Cornell Medical, New York City, NY, United States

Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, DSC & DCE Perfusion, Cancer, Orthotopic, 4T1, Metronomic

Metronomic chemotherapy (MCT) is a cost-effective combinatorial treatment that can be used to normalize tumor vasculature for further treatment. Current monitoring schemes of MCT response are either invasive or are partially sampled. Dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE)-MRI can be utilized to measure the spatial heterogeneity of the tumor microenvironment which can serve as a noninvasive biomarker for treatment response. Using an MCT dose scheme of cyclophosphamide (70mg/kgx3 IP/week), the preliminary result shows that the DCE-MRI can detect the tumor vascular normalization in the treated group.

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Wilhelm Stehling¹, Myrte Wennen^1,2, Eric Schrauben¹, Pim van Ooij¹, Kak Khee Yeung³, Aart Nederveen¹, and Oliver Gurney-Champion^1,4
1Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Amsterdam, Netherlands, ²Department of Intensive Care, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, Netherlands, ³Vascular Surgery, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Amsterdam, Netherlands, ⁴Cancer Center Amsterdam, Imaging and Biomarkers, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Keywords: System Imperfections: Measurement & Correction, Simulations

In this work, we derived an equation describing the signal evolution during an SGRE sequence with preparation pulses. The signal changes especially during the earlier RF pulses and differs from the values for later RF pulses, where it approaches the signal from an SPGR sequence without prepulses. Using the derived equation might enable more accurate DCE examinations.

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Guo Haodong¹, Dmytro Pylypenko², Li Haige¹, Zhu Jianguo¹, Yuan Xiaofan¹, and Zhang Ziyan^1
1the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China, ²GE Healthcare, China, Beijing, Beijing, China

Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, Breast, DISCO CE-MR

 This study aims to investigate the feasibility triple-negative and HER2 positive breast cancer using DISCO CE-MRI. A total of 96 patients were recruited in the study. Quantitative and semi-quantitative parameters were used. k_ep and TTP had diagnostic value for triple-negative breast cancer. The AUC of k_ep and TTP were 0.870 and 0.928. k_ep had diagnostic value for HER2 positive breast cancer.The AUC of k_ep was 0.832. Our findings suggest that DISCO CE-MRI parameters might be reliable quantitative indicators for the differential diagnosis of triple-negative breast cancer and HER2 positive breast cancer. 

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Radovan Jirik¹, Ondrej Macicek¹, Michal Bartos², Marie Mangova³, Pavel Rajmic³, Denisa Hyvlova¹, and Zenon Starcuk, jr.^1
1Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Scientific Instruments, Brno, Czech Republic, ²Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Information Theory and Automation, Praha, Czech Republic, ³Department of Telecommunications, Brno University of Technology, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication, Brno, Czech Republic

Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, DSC & DCE Perfusion

In DCE-MRI, advanced pharmacokinetic models, such as the 2CX, TH and ATH models, provide a more complete set of pharmacokinetic parameters than the commonly used simpler models, such as the Tofts and Patlak models. However, their use requires higher temporal resolution and signal-to-noise ratio. Hence, advanced-model DCE-MRI allows for imaging of only a few slices. We present an approach making 3D advanced-model DCE-MRI possible and evaluate it under the low-signal-to-noise-ratio conditions of small-animal MRI. Our methodology is based on compressed sensing and spatially regularized fitting of the pharmacokinetic model. The approach is evaluated on simulated and real datasets.

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Dominick Romano^1,2, Qihao Zhang^1,2, Ilhami Kovanlikaya², Pascal Spincemaille², and Yi Wang^2,3
1Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, New York, NY, United States, ²Radiology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, United States, ³Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States

Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, Perfusion, Regularization

This study compared L1 and L2 regularized Quantitative Transport Mapping (QTM^1-3) of dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE) MRI in breast and neck tumor using image quality scoring. Improved consistent soft tissue and lesion characterization was observed when using the L1 norm.

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Linh N. N. Le¹, Gregory J. Wheeler¹, Nicholas P. Blockley², and Audrey P. Fan^1,3
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States, ²School of Medicine & Health Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom, ³Department of Neurology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States

Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, Oxygenation

This study uses Monte Carlo simulations to understand the behavior of quantitative BOLD in different physiological conditions, using a Variational Bayesian inference framework with prior information and data from Asymmetric Spin Echo (ASE) scans. The performance of the three models at 7 SNR levels (from 5 to 500) showed that one-compartment and two-compartment models estimated oxygen extraction fraction (OEF) more accurately than linear model across a full range of deoxygenated blood volume (DBV) (p<0.05 using two-way ANOVA with pairwise comparisons). In vivo data showed that Bayesian inference approach effectively enables smoother and quantitatively different parameter maps of OEF and DBV. 

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Annika Hofmann^1,2, Jennifer H.E. Baker³, Firas Moosvi⁴, and Stefan A Reinsberg^2
1Department of Physics, TU Dortmund University, Dortmund, Germany, ²Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ³Radiation Biology Unit, British Columbia Cancer Research Centre, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ⁴Department of Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics and Statistics, University of British Columbia, Kelowna, BC, Canada

Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, Cancer, Independent Component Analysis

Using Independent Component Analysis (ICA) in dynamic Oxygen-Enhanced MRI has been shown to improve the sensitivity of this technique. However, the ICA component has to be identified manually by an observer. In this work we propose an optimization process that automatically determines the best number of components and extracts the component in best accordance to the target function of the breathing challenge.

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Ran Li¹, Cihat Eldeniz¹, Thomas Schindler¹, Linda Peterson¹, Pamela Woodard¹, and Jie Zheng^1
1Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, United States

Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, Myocardium

A previously developed MRI method for quantitative myocardial oxygen extraction mapping showed promising results, but image quality suffered from distortion and inhomogeneity artifacts. A new deep learning-based approach was developed and tested in healthy subjects. This preliminary study showed excellent reproducibility and consistent myocardial oxygen extraction values with other reported data using positron emission tomography methods.

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Artemy Vinogradov¹, Nooshin J. Fesharaki¹, Amanda Taylor², David Ress², and Jung Hwan Kim^1
1University of Texas Health Center at Houston, Houston, TX, United States, ²Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States

Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, fMRI (task based), Depth-dependent BOLD, neurovascular coupling, hemodynamic response function and ultra-high-field mri

The negative hemodynamic response functions (nHRF), temporal dynamics of the negative BOLD response (NBR) evoked by a brief stimulus, have been reported as an inverted version of the corresponding positive HRF (pHRF).  With a careful delineation of the nHRF from the stimulus representation (SR), we found that the nHRF adjacent to the SR was not the inverted version of the corresponding pHRF. We also characterized the nHRF with respect to the depth and found inverse proportion of the nHRF amplitudes between contralateral and ipsilateral sides, which can indicate different underlying mechanisms of the nHRF.

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Gabriela Maria Garcia Delgado¹, Ummul Afia Shammi¹, Talissa Ann Altes², John P Mugler III^3,4, and Robert Paul Thomen^1,2
1Biomedical, Biological and Chemical Engineering, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, United States, ²Radiology, School of Medicine, University of Missouri, 65201, MO, United States, ³Radiology and Medical Imaging, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States, ⁴Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States

Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, Hyperpolarized MR (Gas), Body, Lung, Contrast Mechanisms, Data Analysis

Hyperpolarized gas (HPG) MR imaging allows for quantification of a patient’s lung function. The spatial distribution of ventilation defect patterns is often overlooked in quantitative analyses but may be important for further understanding the nature of lung disease. Here we present a method for quantifying the extent to which defect voxels tend to be sparsely distributed or clustered. This technique involves spherical region-growing for each defect voxel to assess the fraction of neighbors which are also part of a defect. A ‘clustering index’ is reported which quantifies the extent to which defect voxels are spatially congregated or scattered.

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Florian Gierse¹, Florian Büther², Juela Cufe², Bastian Maus³, Michael Claesener², Sven Hermann¹, Klaus Peter Schäfers¹, Katharina Kronenberg⁴, Uwe Karst⁴, Michael Andreas Schäfers¹, Cornelius Faber³, and Philipp Backhaus^2
1European Institute for Molecular Imaging, University of Münster, Münster, Germany, ²Department for Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany, ³Translational Research Imaging Center, Clinic of Radiology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany, ⁴Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany

Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, Perfusion

Calculation of perfusion parameters from DCE-MRI using pharmacokinetic modeling depends on accurate determination of the dynamic tissue concentration and the dynamic arterial blood concentration (AIF). However, precise AIFs are difficult to measure in small animals. We introduce a novel extracorporeal circulation approach from the external carotid artery for feasible AIF determination. DCE derived AIF and tissue contrast agent concentrations corresponded well with radioactive analogs and mass spectrometry. Perfusion parameters derived by different pharmacokinetic models demonstrated variable agreement with simultaneous radiotracer derived calculations of modeling parameters. Overall, we introduce an accurate and precise framework for quantitative perfusion MRI in small animals.

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Yuka Sugamura¹, Vikram Kodibagkar¹, Amy Emerson¹, and Jessica Weaver^1
1Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States

Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, Oxygenation, pO2 mapping, T1 mapping, hydrogels

Cell therapy has the potential to repair irreversible pathologies including infarction and diabetes. High survival rate of the delivered cells is essential for effective treatment, where cell oxygenation is a critical factor. Biocompatible hydrogels are often used as cell delivery vehicles. Here, we propose an approach to quantify the oxygen availability that the cells encapsulated in biocompatible hydrogels experience after cell transplantation. In this study, we demonstrate the feasibility of assessing the pO2 within the hydrogels implanted in rats by combining the hydrogel with a previously developed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) -based tissue oximetry technique.

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Ralf Felix Trauzeddel^1,2, Thomas Grandy³, Elias Daud^1,2, Maximilian Müller^1,2, Darian Viezzer^1,2, Thomas Hadler^1,2, Ning Jin⁴, Daniel Giese^5,6, and Jeanette Schulz-Menger^1,2,3
1Working Group on Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance, Experimental and Clinical Research Center, a joint cooperation between the Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany, ²Partner Site Berlin, DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), Berlin, Germany, ³Department of Cardiology and Nephrology, Helios Hospital Berlin-Buch, Berlin, Germany, ⁴Cardiovascular MR R&D, Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, USA, Cleveland, OH, United States, ⁵Magnetic Resonance, Siemens Healthcare GmbH, Erlangen, Germany, ⁶Institute of Radiology, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany, Erlangen, Germany

Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, Heart, 2D Flow

Various confounders can have an influence on the results of cardiovascular MRI (CMR) examinations. Data about systematic investigations of such confounders are sparse. 2D Flow CMR using segmented and realtime measurements was performed in 20 healthy travelling volunteers to examine the influence of beat-to-beat variability between different heart cycles, sequence types, field strengths and scanner configurations as well as examiners on forward flow volume and peak velocity and compared to 95% tolerance intervals established by intraobserver analysis to test for comparability and precision of measurements which revealed good to very good comparability regarding various physiological, technical and post- processing confounders.   

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FangFei He^1,2, Wentao Liu², Tongwei Zhang³, Fan Yang⁴, Yi Hou¹, Zhihua Gan¹, and Dong Han^2,5
1College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, China, ²CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, China, ³Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, ⁴Beijing Intelligent Brain Cloud Inc, Beijing, China, ⁵University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, Velocity & Flow, Tumor Interstitial Fluid

For effectively penetrating into tumors, drug diffusion speed should be greater than the outward tumor interstitial fluid (TIF) convection speed. Studying TIF is helpful to deeply understand the fluid behavior of tumor fluid flow and its impact on the delivery of nano drugs. In this experiment, an improved PC-MRI slow flow measurement sequence was used to detect the velocity of interstitial fluid in different tumor growth periods. Combined with clinical standard sequence, the relationship between the distribution of the magnetic ferritin (M-HFn) contrast agent in tumor and the velocity of TIF was observed and analyzed.