Segmentation-based quantitative measurements in renal CT imaging using deep learning.

Background: Renal quantitative measurements are important descriptors for assessing kidney function. We developed a deep learning-based method for automated kidney measurements from computed tomography (CT) images.

Methods: The study datasets comprised potential kidney donors (n = 88), both contrast-enhanced (Dataset 1 CE) and noncontrast (Dataset 1 NC) CT scans, and test sets of contrast-enhanced cases (Test set 2, n = 18), cases from a photon-counting (PC)CT scanner reconstructed at 60 and 190 keV (Test set 3 PCCT, n = 15), and low-dose cases (Test set 4, n = 8), which were retrospectively analyzed to train, validate, and test two networks for kidney segmentation and subsequent measurements.

Radiomics-based detection of acute myocardial infarction on noncontrast enhanced midventricular short-axis cine CMR images.

Cardiac magnetic resonance cine images are primarily used to evaluate functional consequences, whereas limited information is extracted from the noncontrast pixel-wise myocardial signal intensity pattern. In this study we want to assess whether characterizing this inherent contrast pattern of noncontrast-enhanced short axis (SAX) cine images via radiomics is sufficient to distinguish subjects with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) from controls. Cine balanced steady-state free-precession images acquired at 1.

Placental differences between uncomplicated and complicated monochorionic diamniotic pregnancies on diffusion and multicompartment Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Introduction: Twin-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) and selective fetal growth restriction (sFGR) are common complications in monochorionic diamniotic (MCDA) pregnancies. The Diffusion-rElaxation Combined Imaging for Detailed Placental Evaluation (DECIDE) model, a placental-specific model, separates the T2 values of the fetal and maternal blood from the background tissue and estimates the fetal blood oxygen saturation. This study investigates diffusion and relaxation differences in uncomplicated MCDA pregnancies and MCDA pregnancies complicated by TTTS and sFGR in mid-pregnancy.

Application of Automatic Segmentation on Super-Resolution Reconstruction MR Images of the Abnormal Fetal Brain.

Background And Purpose: Fetal brain MR imaging is clinically used to characterize fetal brain abnormalities. Recently, algorithms have been proposed to reconstruct high-resolution 3D fetal brain volumes from 2D slices. By means of these reconstructions, convolutional neural networks have been developed for automatic image segmentation to avoid labor-intensive manual annotations, usually trained on data of normal fetal brains.

Risk Severity Model for Pediatric Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease Using 3D Ultrasound Volumetry.

Background: Height-adjusted total kidney volume (htTKV) measured by imaging defined as Mayo Imaging Class (MIC) is a validated prognostic measure for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) in adults to predict and stratify disease progression. However, no stratification tool is currently available in pediatric ADPKD. Because magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography in children are difficult, we propose a novel 3D ultrasound-based pediatric Leuven Imaging Classification to complement the MIC.

AI-based MRI auto-segmentation of brain tumor in rodents, a multicenter study.

Automatic segmentation of rodent brain tumor on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may facilitate biomedical research. The current study aims to prove the feasibility for automatic segmentation by artificial intelligence (AI), and practicability of AI-assisted segmentation. MRI images, including T2WI, T1WI and CE-T1WI, of brain tumor from 57 WAG/Rij rats in KU Leuven and 46 mice from the cancer imaging archive (TCIA) were collected.

Early Whole-Body Diffusion-weighted MRI Helps Predict Long-term Outcome Following Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy for Metastatic Neuroendocrine Tumors.

Purpose To evaluate the predictive value of 7-week apparent diffusion coefficient change from baseline (ADCratio) at whole-body diffusion-weighted MRI (WB-DWI MRI) after one peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) cycle to predict outcome in patients with metastatic neuroendocrine tumor (mNET). Materials and Methods From April 2009 to May 2012, participants in a prospective clinical trial investigating yttrium 90-DOTA Phe1-Tyr-octreotide (DOTATOC) treatment for mNET (EudraCT no. 2008-007965-22) underwent WB-DWI MRI and gallium 68 (Ga)-DOTATOC PET/CT before and 7 weeks after one PRRT cycle.

Development and characterization of a rat brain metastatic tumor model by multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging and histomorphology.

To facilitate the development of new brain metastasis (BM) treatment, an easy-to-use and clinically relevant animal model with imaging platform is needed. Rhabdomyosarcoma BM was induced in WAG/Rij rats. Post-implantation surveillance and characterizations were systematically performed with multiparametric MRI including 3D T1 and T2 weighted imaging, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), T1 and T2 mapping, and perfusion-weighted imaging (PWI), which were validated by postmortem digital radiography (DR), µCT angiography and histopathology.

Comparing breast cancer imaging characteristics of CHEK2 with BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutation carriers.

Purpose: Breast cancer gene (BRCA) 1 and 2 mutations are frequently studied gene mutations (GM); the incidence of checkpoint kinase 2 (CHEK2) is increasing. We describe the imaging features of breast cancer (BC) in CHEK2 mutations, compared to BRCA 1 and 2 using mammography, ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Method: Inclusion criteria were primary BC in GM carriers, treated in the same hospital.

Morphometric evaluation of traumatic axonal injury and the correlation with post-traumatic cerebral atrophy and functional outcome.

Introduction: Imaging plays a crucial role in the diagnosis, prognosis and follow-up of traumatic brain injury. Whereas computed tomography plays a pivotal role in the acute setting, magnetic resonance imaging is best suited to detect the true extent of traumatic brain injury, and more specifically diffuse axonal injury. Post-traumatic brain atrophy is a well-known complication of traumatic brain injury.

Quantitative Whole-Body Diffusion-weighted MRI after One Treatment Cycle for Aggressive Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Is an Independent Prognostic Factor of Outcome.

Purpose: To evaluate the prognostic utility of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) changes at whole-body diffusion-weighted (WB-DW) MRI after one treatment cycle for aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) compared with response assessment at interim and end-of-treatment fluorine 18 (F) fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT.

Materials And Methods: This was a secondary analysis of a prospective study (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01231269) in which participants with aggressive NHL were recruited between March 2011 and April 2015 and underwent WB-DW MRI before and after one cycle of immunochemotherapy.

Accuracy of whole-body diffusion-weighted MRI (WB-DWI/MRI) in diagnosis, staging and follow-up of gastric cancer, in comparison to CT: a pilot study.

Background: Accurate staging of patients with gastric cancer is necessary for selection of the most appropriate and personalized therapy. Computed tomography (CT) is currently used as primary staging tool, being widely available with a relatively high accuracy for the detection of parenchymal metastases, but with low sensitivity for the detection of peritoneal metastases. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) has a very high contrast resolution, suggesting a higher diagnostic performance in the detection of small peritoneal lesions.

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of diffusion-weighted brain MR imaging in comatose survivors after cardiac arrest.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to compare a qualitative and a quantitative assessment of brain diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in predicting outcome of comatose patients after cardiac arrest (CA).

Methods: Two observers used a scoring template to analyze the DWI of 75 patients. A total of 13 regions were scored from 0 to 3 (0 = normal, 1 = probably normal, 2 = probably abnormal, 3 = definitely abnormal).

Whole-body diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging for the detection of bone metastases and their prognostic impact in metastatic renal cell carcinoma patients treated with angiogenesis inhibitors.

Metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) patients with bone metastases (BM) are at high risk for skeletal related events and have a poorer outcome when treated with vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (VEGFR-TKIs). Computed tomography (CT) lacks sensitivity to detect BM in mRCC. We aimed to determine the added value of whole body diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (WB-DWI/MRI) to CT for the detection of BM in mRCC and to estimate the prognostic impact of the number of BM in mRCC patients treated with VEGFR-TKIs.

Predicting Therapeutic Efficacy of Vascular Disrupting Agent CA4P in Rats with Liver Tumors by Hepatobiliary Contrast Agent Mn-DPDP-Enhanced MRI.

To evaluate hepatobiliary-specific contrast agent (CA) mangafodipir trisodium (Mn-DPDP)-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for predicting the therapeutic efficacy of the vascular disrupting agent combretastatin A4 phosphate (CA4P) in rats with primary and secondary liver tumors, 36 primary hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) were raised by diethylnitrosamine gavage in 16 male rats, in 6 of which one rhabdomyosarcomas (R1) was intrahepatically implanted as secondary liver tumors. On a 3.0T MR scanner with a wrist coil, tumors were monitored weekly by T2-/T1-weighted images (T2WI/T1WI) and characterized by Mn-DPDP-enhanced MRI.

Whole-body diffusion-weighted MRI for operability assessment in patients with colorectal cancer and peritoneal metastases.

Background: Correct staging of patients with colorectal cancer is of utmost importance for the prediction of operability. Although computed tomography (CT) has a good overall performance, estimation of peritoneal cancer spread is a known weakness, a problem that cannot always be overcome by Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (F-FDG-PET/CT); especially in infiltrative and miliary disease spread. Due to its high spatial and contrast resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) might have a better performance.

Reliability of MR Imaging-Based Posterior Fossa and Brain Stem Measurements in Open Spinal Dysraphism in the Era of Fetal Surgery.

Background And Purpose: Fetal MR imaging is part of the comprehensive prenatal assessment of fetuses with open spinal dysraphism. We aimed to assess the reliability of brain stem and posterior fossa measurements; use the reliable measurements to characterize fetuses with open spinal dysraphism versus what can be observed in healthy age-matched controls; and document changes in those within 1 week after prenatal repair.

Materials And Methods: Retrospective evaluation of 349 MR imaging examinations took place, including 274 in controls and 52 in fetuses with open spinal dysraphism, of whom 23 underwent prenatal repair and had additional early postoperative MR images.

Intra-individual comparison of therapeutic responses to vascular disrupting agent CA4P between rodent primary and secondary liver cancers.

Aim: To compare therapeutic responses of a vascular-disrupting-agent, combretastatin-A4-phosphate (CA4P), among hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) and implanted rhabdomyosarcoma (R1) in the same rats by magnetic-resonance-imaging (MRI), microangiography and histopathology.

Methods: Thirty-six HCCs were created by diethylnitrosamine gavage in 14 rats that were also intrahepatically implanted with one R1 per rat as monitored by T2-/T1-weighted images (T2WI/T1WI) on a 3.0T clinical MRI-scanner.

The first study on therapeutic efficacies of a vascular disrupting agent CA4P among primary hepatocellular carcinomas with a full spectrum of differentiation and vascularity: Correlation of MRI-microangiography-histopathology in rats.

To better inform the next clinical trials of vascular disrupting agent combretastatin-A4-phosphate (CA4P) in patients with hepatic malignancies, this preclinical study aimed at evaluating CA4P therapeutic efficacy in rats with primary hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) of a full spectrum of differentiation and vascularity by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), microangiography and histopathology. Ninety-six HCCs were raised in 25 rats by diethylnitrosamine gavage. Tumor growth was monitored by T2-/T1-weighted-MRI (T2WI, T1WI) using a 3.

Improving lymph node characterization in staging malignant lymphoma using first-order ADC texture analysis from whole-body diffusion-weighted MRI.

Background: Correct staging and treatment initiation in malignant lymphoma depends on accurate lymph node characterization. However, nodal assessment based on conventional and diffusion-weighted (DWI) MRI remains challenging, particularly in smaller nodes.

Purpose: To evaluate first-order apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) texture parameters compared to mean ADC for lymph node characterization in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) using whole-body DWI (WB-DWI).

3DUS as an alternative to MRI for measuring renal volume in children with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.

Background: Total kidney volume, measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), is a validated disease progression marker in adults with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). However, in childhood, MRI is burdensome, explaining the need for alternatives.

Methods: Kidney volume (KV) was evaluated in 30 children with ADPKD, using three-dimensional ultrasound (3DUS), applying the ellipsoid method and manual contouring (KV KV respectively); manual contouring on MRI (KV), and the ellipsoid method on two-dimensional ultrasound (2DUS, KV).

Feasibility of whole-body diffusion-weighted MRI for detection of primary tumour, nodal and distant metastases in women with cancer during pregnancy: a pilot study.

Objectives: To evaluate the feasibility of whole-body diffusion-weighted MRI (WB-DWI/MRI) for detecting primary tumour, nodal and distant metastases in pregnant women with cancer.

Methods: Twenty pregnant patients underwent WB-DWI/MRI in additional to conventional imaging. Reproducibility of WB-DWI/MRI between two readers was evaluated using Cohen's κ statistics and accuracy was compared to conventional imaging for assessing primary tumour site, nodal and visceral metastases.

Micro-HCCs in rats with liver cirrhosis: paradoxical targeting effects with vascular disrupting agent CA4P.

We sought to investigate anticancer efficacy of a vascular disrupting agent (VDA) combretastatin A-4 phosphate (CA4P) in relation to tumor size among hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) in rats using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and postmortem techniques. Nineteen rats with 43 chemically-induced HCCs of 2.8-20.

Rationale for Modernising Imaging in Advanced Prostate Cancer.

Context: To effectively manage patients with advanced prostate cancer (APC), it is essential to have accurate, reproducible, and validated methods for detecting and quantifying the burden of bone and soft tissue metastases and for assessing their response to therapy. Current standard of care imaging with bone and computed tomography (CT) scans have significant limitations for the assessment of bone metastases in particular.

Objective: We aimed to undertake a critical comparative review of imaging methods used for diagnosis and disease monitoring of metastatic APC from the perspective of their availability and ability to assess disease presence, extent, and response of bone and soft tissue disease.

Diagnostic value of whole body diffusion-weighted MRI compared to computed tomography for pre-operative assessment of patients suspected for ovarian cancer.

Background: Despite excellent per-lesion performance for peritoneal staging, the additional clinical value of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI/MRI) compared to computed tomography (CT) remains to be established in ovarian cancer. Our purpose was to evaluate whole body (WB)-DWI/MRI for diagnosis, staging and operability assessment of patients suspected for ovarian cancer compared to CT.

Methods: One hundred and sixty-one patients suspected for ovarian carcinoma underwent 3 T WB-DWI/MRI and contrast-enhanced CT.