Simultaneously Applying Multiple Diffusion Models to Predict Histologic Grade of Bladder Urothelial Carcinoma

Tumor grading is the most important single prognostic factor for bladder urothelial carcinoma. In this study, we compared 5 diffusion models for assessing low- and high-grade in bladder urothelial carcinoma, including continuous-time random-walk (CTRW), incoherent motion within the voxel (IVIM), stretched exponential model (SEM), diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) and fractional-order calculus (FROC). The study found that CTRW_D, DKI_Dapp, DKI_Kapp, FROC_D, IVIM_D and SEM_DDC were significantly different between low- and high-grade bladder urothelial carcinoma and could distinguish one from the other.