Molecular Imaging 2017

DCE : dynamic contrast enhancement or permeability MRI

• based on the acquisition of serial T1-weighted images before, during, and after administration of gadolinium-based contrast agent.

• DCE MR perfusion imaging depicts the wash-in, plateau, and washout contrast kinetics of the tissue  insight into the nature of the bulk tissue properties at the microvascular level.

• Most often, DCE MR perfusion imaging is based on a two-compartmental (plasma space and extravascular-extracellular space) pharmacokinetic model.

The general steps are (in order): – perform baseline T1 mapping, – acquire DCE MR perfusion images, – convert signal intensity data to gadolinium concentration, – determine the vascular input function, and perform pharmacokinetic modeling.

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• The most frequently used metric in DCE MR perfusion is k trans . It can have different interpretations depending on blood flow and permeability.