Delta-relaxometry with contrast-enhanced MR Fingerprinting: phantom validation and application to tumor imaging

The influence of hemodynamics and contrast concentration can be eliminated with ratios between delta-relaxometry in contrast-enhanced MR Fingerprinting (MRF). This delta ratio can be used to characterize the in vivo contrast-specific tissue response, beyond the conventional T1/T2 shortening effect. In this abstract, we: 1) developed a MRF-based strategy to image the concentration-independent, contrast-specific tissue response using delta-relaxometry; 2) validated reproducibility and linearity of delta-relaxometry in phantom experiments; 3) reported the novel Delta-relaxometry image contrast distinct from current clinical image contrasts; and 4) illustrated the sensitivity of delta-relaxometry in brain tumor characterization and classification.