Quantifying Hepatic Arterial Blood Flow with 4D Flow MRI to Improve Transarterial Radioembolization: a Feasibility and Repeatability Study

Motivation: Hepatic arterial blood flow (HABF) is expected to be an important parameter influencing the microsphere distribution during transarterial radioembolization (TARE). Goal(s): This study aimed to assess the ability of 4D flow MRI (3D time-resolved phase-contrast MRI with 3D velocity encoding) to quantify HABF. Approach: An in vivo feasibility and repeatability (scan-rescan reliability) study was conducted in twenty volunteers, followed by a feasibility study in ten patients with a liver disease. Results: Quantifying HABF with 4D flow MRI is feasible, but there are large variations in scan-rescan reliability. Further analyses are planned to understand the (variation in) scan-rescan differences. Impact: If hepatic arterial blood flow (HABF) quantification with 4D flow MRI proves feasible and repeatable, the technique can be used to investigate the relationship between HABF and transarterial radioembolization (TARE) microsphere distribution, with the ultimate goal of improving TARE outcomes.