Pierluigi Di Giovanni1, Che A. Azlan1, Thomas W. Redpath1, Trevor S. Ahearn1, Scott IK Semple2, Fiona J. Gilbert1
1Radiology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK; 2Medical Physics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Breast tumour imaging with DCE-MRI and T1W FLASH at 3T is corrupted by B1 inhomogeneities across the field of view. We investigate, by simulation, how pharmacokinetic parameters Ktrans and ve are affected by B1 error. We show that Ktrans and ve can be overestimated or underestimated depending on whether the effective flip angle is higher or lower than its nominal value. We also show that the greater the values of Ktrans and/or ve the greater sensitivity to B1 inhomogeneity. Pharmacokinetic parameter errors can be avoided using a sequence less sensitive to B1 inhomogeneity or corrected using by B1 maps.