Robust and Repeatable Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping for Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Motivation: Identifying hypoxia in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) could improve treatment. Quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) offers a potential method for measuring tissue composition and oxygenation. Goal(s): To develop a robust, repeatable pipeline for QSM in the head and neck region. Approach: We tested various QSM reconstruction pipelines and compared their intra- and inter-session repeatability, before applying an optimized pipeline to a HNSCC patient dataset. Results: A pipeline using ROMEO phase unwrapping, V-SHARP background field removal, and iterative Tikhonov susceptibility calculation was found to be more repeatable than the previously reported best pipeline and showed nodal susceptibility differences in a HNSCC patient. Impact: This new optimized pipeline provides repeatable susceptibility values in key ROIs through the head and neck region and detected nodal susceptibility differences in a HNSCC patient. Therefore, it is applicable for clinical studies of tissue susceptibility and oxygenation in HNSCC.