Performances of Different Algorithms for Tracer Kinetics Parameters Estimation in Breast DCE-MRI

Objective of this study was to evaluate the performances of different algorithms for tracer kinetics parameters estimation in breast Dynamic Contrast Enhanced-MRI. We considered four algorithms: two non-iterative algorithms based on impulsive and linear approximation of the Arterial Input Function respectively; and two iterative algorithms widely used for non-linear regression (Levenberg-Marquardt, LM and VARiable PROjection, VARPRO). Per each value of the kinetic parameters within a physiological range, we simulated 100 noisy curves and estimated the parameters with all algorithms. Sampling time, total duration and noise level have been chosen as in a typical breast examination. We compared the performances with respect to the Cramer-Rao Lower Bound (CRLB). Moreover, in order to gain further insight we applied the algorithms to a real breast examination. Accuracy of all the methods depends on the specific value of the parameters. The methods are in general biased: however, VARPRO showed small bias in a region of the parameter space larger than the other methods; moreover, VARPRO approached CRLB and the number of iterations were smaller than LM. In the specific conditions analyzed, VARPRO showed better performances with respect to LM and to non-iterative algorithms.