Mapping of tumor circulatory function using time course pattern in DCE-MRI

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K09077
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Medical Physics and Radiological Technology
• Research Institution: National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology
• Principal Investigator: IKOMA Yoko 国立研究開発法人量子科学技術研究開発機構, 放射線医学総合研究所 分子イメージング診断治療研究部, 主幹研究員(定常) (60339687)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: ダイナミック造影MRI / 薬物動態解析 / 血行動態 / クラスタリング / 前立腺腫瘍

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) measures changes in the concentration of an administered contrast agent to quantitatively evaluate blood circulation in a tumor or normal tissues. We proposed a pharmacokinetic analysis based on the time course of a reference region, such as muscle, rather than arterial input function, and demonstrated that the proposed method could estimate the blood circulation parameter reliably. Our proposed method also could extract the reference region automatically using the clustering algorithm with three types of features based on the time course pattern of DCE-MRI and anatomical data. Finally, we developed a software for performing the proposed method easily using graphical user interface. We applied this method to studies of patients with prostate cancer. As a result, elevation of the blood circulation was evaluated visually and quantitatively in the tumor region. This method may be useful for evaluating tumor circulatory function in DCE-MRI studies.

Free Research Field

医用画像工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究では、ダイナミック造影MRIを用いた簡便かつ高精度な血行動態の定量法を確立し、その解析を汎用PC上で行うためのソフトウェアを開発した。本研究で開発した解析ソフトウェアでは、煩雑な作業や複雑なパラメータのセッティングを要しないため、薬物動態解析の経験が少ない臨床医や研究者でも使いやすく、臨床画像診断および臨床研究への普及が期待される。さらに、提案法により得られる血行動態パラメータを指標として用いることで、将来的には腫瘍の診断能向上や治療効果判定にも役立つものと期待される。