Quantification of Tissue Microcirculation by Dynamic MRI and CT: Comparative Analysis of Signal-Time Courses Measured in Muscle Tissue

Abstract

Quantitative analysis of microcirculatory parameters from dynamic MRI data is seriously hampered by the fact that the MR signal is not only affected by the local concentration of the contrast agent administered and the measurement sequence used but also by MR-specific processes, such as proton relaxation enhancement and water exchange between tissue compartments. It was thus the aim of our investigation to assess the reliability of an MRI approach developed by our group by comparing microcirculatory parameters estimated for muscle tissue with those determined from dynamic CT scans. The analysis yielded a good agreement between the tracer-independent parameters estimated from signal-time courses determined by both imaging modalities in muscle tissue.