A fast method of generating pharmacokinetic maps from dynamic contrast-enhanced images of the breast.

A new approach to fitting pharmacokinetic models to DCE-MRI data is described. The method relies on fitting individual concentration curves to a small set of basis functions and then making use of a look up table to relate the fitting coefficients to pre-calculated pharmacokinetic parameters. This is significantly faster than traditional non-linear fitting methods. Using simulated data and assuming a Tofts model, the accuracy of this direct approach is compared to the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm. The effect of signal to noise ratio and the number of basis functions used on the accuracy is investigated. The basis fitting approach is slightly less accurate than the traditional non-linear least squares approach but the ten-fold improvement in speed makes the new technique useful as it can be used to generate pharmacokinetic maps in a clinically acceptable timeframe.