Rana Al Rouhban MD, Presenter: Nothing to Disclose

Sebastien Mule, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Stephane Oudard MD, PhD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Anne-Marie Tissier MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Olivier Helenon, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Jean-Michel Correas MD, Abstract Co-Author: Advisory Board, Koninklijke Philips NV Speaker, Bracco Group Investigator, Bracco Group Speaker, SuperSonic Imagine Speaker, General Electric Company

To evaluate the correlation between perfusion parameters estimated from raw data (linear data; device-specific format) and AVI and DICOM files (compressed data; device-free format) in dynamic contrast–enhanced ultrasound (DCE-US) studies, knowing that raw data format requires processing with proprietary software while DICOM and AVI format can be processed using independent software.

The therapeutic response of 15 patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with sunetinib was assessed using DCE-US in this prospective study, after signing the approved consent form. 151 cineloops were acquired after a 2.4 mL bolus injection of BR1 (SonoVue®, Bracco, Milano, Italy) and simultaneously stored in RAW data, DICOM and AVI formatted files. A specific version of the “EchoPerf” software was developed to simultaneously adjust perfusion kinetics (bolus) from three regions-of-interest (ROI) by a simple mathematical model (gamma-variate) and to estimate four perfusion parameters (Area under the curve=AUC, Mean transit time=MTT, Peak enhancement=PE, and Perfusion index=PI) from the three file formats. Data provided by the DICOM and AVI formats were linearized according to the US manufacturer recommendations. Correlation between functional perfusion parameters was calculated using the Pearson correlation test. A p-value below 0.05 was considered significant.

Correlation between raw data-derived estimates and AVI and DICOM-derived estimates was ≥ 0.94 for all perfusion parameters (p< 0.05). Higher values were found using DICOM files versus AVI files, without any statistical significance. The amplitude of the signal obtained and thus the values of the perfusion parameters for the RAW format were consistently higher due to increased dynamic range with 2 additional bits.

Functional perfusion parameters estimated with DCE-US from different file formats are strongly correlated when the appropriate linearization function is used. However, the same format should be kept for the entire follow-up study. The use of raw data is not mandatory and third-party quantification softwares can be developed.

Any file format (raw, DICOM or AVI) can be used in recording digital cineloops for further perfusion quantification in DCE-US as long as the appropriate linearization function is used and the same format kept identical in all follow-up evaluation studies.

Al Rouhban, R, Mule, S, Oudard, S, Tissier, A, Helenon, O, Correas, J, Perfusion Quantification Using Dynamic Contrast-enhanced US: Which File Format Should We Use?.  Radiological Society of North America 2014 Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, - ,Chicago IL. http://archive.rsna.org/2014/14012804.html