Mikael Fredrik Forsgren1,2, Olof Dahlqvist
Leinhard1,3, Gunnar Cedersund2,4, Nils Dahlstrm1,3,
rjan Smedby1,3, Torkel B. Brismar5, Peter Lundberg3,6
1Department of Medical
& Health Sciences, Division of Radiological Sciences, Linkping
University, Linkping, Sweden; 2Department of Clinical &
Experimental Medicine, Diabetes & Integrated Systems Biology, Linkping
University, Linkping, Sweden; 3Center for Medical Image Science
& Visualization (CMIV), Linkping University, Linkping, Sweden; 4School
of Life Sciences, Freiburg Institute of Advanced Sciences, Freiburg, Germany;
5Department of Radiology, Karolinska University Hospital,
Stockholm, Sweden; 6Department of Radiation Physics, CKOC,
University Hospital of Linkping, Linkping, Sweden
Clinical dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI examinations of the human liver can be analyzed in detail using tissue models. Our aim was to devise the first physiologically correct minimal model that describes the most important routes of contrast agent flux. Based on established pharmacokinetic equations incorporated into a system of ordinary differential equations, the model has a significant potential for gaining a better understanding of the contrast agent behaviour in the human body. We believe that it is possible, in a Bayesian modeling framework, to use the model on individual patient data, thereby increasing the information obtained from clinical examinations.