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Information theoretic evaluation of Lorentzian, Gaussian, Voigt, and symmetric alpha-stable models of reversible transverse relaxation in cervical cancer in vivo at 3 T

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Abstract

Objects

To better characterize cervical cancer at 3 T. MRI transverse relaxation patterns hold valuable biophysical information about cellular scale microstructure. Lorentzian modeling is typically used to represent intravoxel frequency distributions, resulting in mono-exponential decay of reversible transverse relaxation. However, deviations from mono-exponential decay are expected theoretically and observed experimentally.

Materials and methods

We compared the information content of four models of signal attenuation with reversible transverse relaxation. Biological phantoms and six women with cervical squamous cell carcinoma were imaged using a gradient-echo sampling of the spin-echo (GESSE) sequence. Lorentzian, Gaussian, Voigt, and Symmetric α-Stable (SAS) models were ranked using Akaike’s Information Criterion (AIC), and the model retaining the highest information content was identified at each voxel as the best model.

Results

The Lorentzian model resulted in information loss in large fractions of the phantoms and cervix. Gaussian and SAS models frequently had higher information content than the Lorentzian in much of the areas of interest. The Voigt model rarely surpassed the three other models in terms of information content.

Discussion

Gaussian and SAS models provide better fitting of data in much of the human cervix at 3 T. Minimizing information loss through improved tissue modeling may have important implications for identifying reliable biomarkers of tumor hypoxia and iron deposition.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Prof. Robert Mulkern and Dr. Mukund Balasubramanian for the GESSE pulse sequence and suggestions, and Dr. Akila Viswanathan for clinical guidance.

Funding

The authors did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Akdeniz University, A305, 07070, Antalya, Türkiye

    Pelin Ciris

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  1. Pelin Ciris
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Correspondence to Pelin Ciris.

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The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

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Ethics approval was obtained from the ethics committee of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA. The procedures used in this study adhere to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki.

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Ciris, P. Information theoretic evaluation of Lorentzian, Gaussian, Voigt, and symmetric alpha-stable models of reversible transverse relaxation in cervical cancer in vivo at 3 T. Magn Reson Mater Phy 36, 119–133 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10334-022-01035-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10334-022-01035-1

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