Xin Li1, Ryan A. Priest2,3,
William J. Woodward1, Ian J. Tagge1, Faisal Siddiqui2,3,
Tomasz M. Beer4,5, Mark G. Garzotto6,7, Wei Huang1,
William D. Rooney1, Charles S. Springer, Jr.1,5
1Advanced Imaging Research Center,
Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States; 2Radiology,
Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States; 3School
of Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United
States; 4Hematology/Oncology, Oregon Health & Science
University, Portland, OR, United States; 5Knight Cancer Institute,
Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States; 6Urology,
Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States; 7Portland
VA Medical Center, Portland, OR, United States
A new DCE-MRI parametric biomarker, the mean intracellular water lifetime,τi, was mapped in the human prostate gland. In normal gland, the peripheral zone τi value is larger than the transitional/central zone value. In prostate adenocarcinoma, the τi map exhibits a rim-enhancement, with the tumor rim having a larger τi value than its core. The τi magnitude is determined by the ratio of two ROI- or voxel-averaged quantities: a linear cellular size measure, [size], and the cell membrane water permeability coefficient, Pw : it is proportional to [size]/Pw. The permeability Pw can have an active component proportional to the cell energy level.