Title: Quantitative optimisation of MRI contrast agent dose using response surface modelling

Authors: M.A. Fkirin; Samir Mohammed Badway; Ehab Barakat

Addresses: Department of Industrial Electronic Engineering and Control, Faculty of Electronic Engineering, Menoufia University, Menouf, Egypt ' Department of Industrial Electronic Engineering and Control, Faculty of Electronic Engineering, Menoufia University, Menouf, Egypt ' Department of Medical Equipment Technology, Faculty of Allied Medical Science, Pharos University, Alexandria, Egypt

Abstract: Nevertheless that Contrast Agent (CA) has adverse effect on patients, besides its relatively high cost, it is used in 30-40% of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) for tissue specificity. Our aim is to optimise (minimise) needed dose by studying the efficacy of magnetising CA before scanning on its signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). One set of seven samples of gadodiamide in saline were magnetised with a permanent magnet before being placed in phantoms (S1), in addition to another identical set but not magnetised (S2) (reference set) are imaged in a closed 1.5 T MRI. Both sets of Phantoms are with different CA concentration (0, 0.33, 0.66, 0.99, 1.3, 1.7, 2 mM). S1 is scanned from 0-5 hours after magnetisation, while S2 scanned once. By implementing RSM, results shows that CA could be decreased by 28% to 37.60% if externally magnetised before scanning.

Keywords: magnetised water; gadodiamide; liver imaging; surface fitting; optimisation; magnetic resonance imaging; MRI; contrast agents; contrast agent dose; response surface methodology; RSM; modelling; signal-to-noise ratio; SNR; magnetisation; medical images.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBET.2016.078990

International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, 2016 Vol.22 No.1, pp.58 - 65

Received: 04 Aug 2015
Accepted: 27 Nov 2015
Published online: 08 Sep 2016 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article