Bio-Mathematical Modelling in Tumor Evaluation Via Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Abstract

In the last 25 years, within the field of tumor evaluation using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), 2 main promising applications have emerged that can provide useful functional information beyond the morphological images: dynamic contrast enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) and diffusion weighted imaging (DWI or DW-MRI). DCE-MRI involves the administration of a contrast medium that, flowing into the vascular network feeding the tumor, might give information on tissue vascular perfusion which is related to the angiogenesis phenomenon, in turn associated to tumor growth. DWI exploits the water brownian motion that is affected by tissue cellularity and vascularization. The successful application of both DCE-MRI and DWI lays strongly on both technical MRI improvements achieved in the last decades and on adequate bio-mathematical modelling of tissues. In this editorial, I will briefly discuss a few main issues of both applications focussing on bio-mathematical modelling.