Abstract #1977

Ad Hoc Constraints on Complex Liver DCE-MRI Models Can Reduce Parameter Uncertainty

Mikael Fredrik Forsgren¹,², Olof Dahlqvist Leinhard¹,², Gunnar Cedersund³,⁴, Peter Lundberg¹,²

¹Depts of Radiation Physics, Linkping University and Radiation Physics, UHL County Council of Ostergotland, Linkping, Sweden; ²Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization (CMIV), Linkping University, Linkping, Sweden; ³Depts of Clinical and Experimental Medicine (IKE), Diabetes and Integrated Systems Biology, Linkping University, Linkping, Sweden; ⁴School of Life Sciences, Freiburg Institute of Advanced Sciences, Freiburg, Germany

Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI)using hepatocyte-specific contrast agents (CA) has been proposed as promising methods for liver function characterization. A human whole body pharmacokinetic model for DCE-MRI analysis has previously been proposed, there is however issues with parameter uncertainties in models aiming towards mimicking complex biological systems. The aim of this study was to derive ad hoc constraint that can reduce the model uncertainty. Our results suggest that a lowest amount of CA residing within the blood pool after 3 h is a likely candidate that might be used on a variety of liver DCE-MRI models.