A fast protocol for multicenter and multiparametric quantitative MRI studies in brain tumor patients using vendor...

Area of Science:

• Radiology
• Medical Imaging
• Neuro-oncology

Background:

• Multiparametric quantitative MRI (mp-qMRI) offers noninvasive tissue property measurements crucial for brain tumor (BT) characterization.
• Key metrics include relaxation times (T1, T2*), water content (H2O), and quantitative susceptibility (χ).
• Developing short, universally implementable protocols is essential for multicenter data acquisition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a rapid (8-minute) 3T mp-qMRI protocol for brain tumor patients.
• The protocol utilizes generalized pulse sequences (mGRE and EPI) for broad scanner compatibility.

Main Methods:

• Protocol development and testing on phantoms, healthy subjects, and BT patients.
• Comparison of T1 maps with reference methods.
• Assessment of inter-scanner reproducibility using Coefficients of Variance (COV), Bland-Altman analysis, and t-tests.
• Evaluation of clinical feasibility in BT patients.

Main Results:

• The mp-qMRI protocol demonstrated accurate T1 measurements comparable to reference methods (mean error 8.94 ms).
• Quantitative MRI maps (T1, T2*, H2O, χ) exhibited good inter-scanner reproducibility in healthy volunteers.
• Mean white matter (WM) and gray matter (GM) qMRI values aligned with literature, with H2O showing the lowest COV and χ the highest.

Conclusions:

• The proposed 8-minute, 3T mp-qMRI protocol, using vendor-neutral sequences, generates high-resolution (1 mm isotropic) quantitative maps.
• This protocol facilitates efficient, reproducible, and quantitative imaging for brain tumor research and clinical applications.