Workflow sensitivity of post-processing methods in renal DCE-MRI.

OBJECTIVE: Estimation of renal filtration using dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging (DCE-MRI) requires a series of analysis steps. The possible number of distinct post-processing chains is large and grows rapidly with increasing number of processing steps or options. In this study we introduce a framework for systematic evaluation of the post-processing chains. The framework is later used to highlight the workflow processing chain sensitivity towards accuracy in estimation of glomerular filtration rate (GFR).

METHODS: Twenty healthy volunteers underwent DCE-MRI examinations as well as iohexol clearance for reference GFR measurements. In total, 692 different combinations of post-processing steps were explored for analysis, including options for kidney segmentation, B1 inhomogeneity correction, placement of arterial input function, gadolinium concentration estimation as well as handling of motion-corrupted volumes and breathing motion. The evaluation of various processing chains is presented using a classification tree framework and random forest ensemble learning.

RESULTS: Among the processing steps subject to testing, methods for calculating the gadolinium concentration as well as B1 inhomogeneity correction had the largest impact on accuracy of GFR estimations. Different segmentation methods did not play an important role in the post-processing of the MR data except from one processing chain where the automated segmentation outperformed the manual segmentation.

CONCLUSION: The proposed classification trees were efficiently used as a statistical tool for visualization and communication of results to distinguish between important and less influential processing steps in renal DCE-MRI. We also identified several crucial factors in the processing chain.