Simon Walker-Samuel1, Matthew Orton1, Lauren C. Baker1, Jessica K. Boult1, Simon P. Robinson1
1Cancer Research UK Clinical Magnetic Resonance Research Group, Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, Surrey, UK
Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI data is increasingly acquired using inversion-recovery (IR) TrueFISP imaging sequences due to their speed and high signal-to-noise. However, IR-TrueFISP is also sensitive to changes in T2 induced by paramagnetic contrast agents. In this study, a dual-relaxation, maximum-likelihood approach is proposed and evaluated in orthotopic prostate tumours, that evaluates and quantifies changes in both T1 and T2. This approach simultaneously models all dynamic IR-TrueFISP data acquired with multiple inversion times, which affords temporal constraint to dynamic T1 estimates. Furthermore, it incorporates the Rician noise distribution evident in magnitude MR data, thereby minimising bias within parameter estimates.