Correction of receiver profile bias in brain tumors using T1 maps for accurate water content mapping

Motivation: Current methods for water content (H2O)-mapping in brain tumors (BT) lead to an underestimation of H2O due to the imperfect bias field profile estimation. Goal(s): Using T1-maps for a more accurate bias field profile estimation in BT patients. Approach: Bias field-maps were obtained from T1-maps and used to correct for the bias in the conventional bias field correction approach. The proposed method was tested in 24 patients with suspected intra-axial BT. Results: The proposed method led to a significant increase in the measured water content in comparison to the conventional method in larger tumors, but not in small tumors. Impact: Current methods for H2O-mapping in brain tumors have bias field estimation inaccuracies. Here, T1-maps were used to correct for these inaccuracies and results evaluated in 24 patients. Large tumors had a significant increase in water content after the proposed correction.