Comparison of perfusion- and diffusion-weighted imaging parameters in brain tumor studies processed using different...

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Radiology
• Oncology

Background:

• Quantitative imaging parameters from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are crucial for brain tumor assessment.
• Different software platforms may introduce variability in these quantitative measures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare quantitative diffusion- and perfusion-weighted imaging MRI parameters in brain tumors processed with different software platforms.
• To assess the impact of software variability on diagnostic accuracy.

Main Methods:

• Twenty subjects with primary brain tumors underwent MRI.
• Data were processed using vendor-specific, research, and commercial (Nordic Ice) software.
• Regions of interest (ROIs) were analyzed within tumors and normal tissue.

Main Results:

• Diffusion parameters (mean diffusivity, fractional anisotropy) showed high concordance across software.
• Perfusion parameters (cerebral blood volume, cerebral blood flow, MTT) exhibited significant variance.
• Larger ROIs (≥ 5 mm) improved correlation; MTT showed the greatest variance.

Conclusions:

• Diffusion MRI parameters are robust across different processing software.
• Perfusion MRI parameters, particularly MTT, are highly variable and software-dependent.
• Current MRI perfusion methods for MTT estimation in tumors may lack reliability due to software influence.