A study of T_2-weighted MR image texture features and diffusion-weighted MR image features for computer-aided diagnosis of prostate cancer

摘要

The purpose of this study was to study T_2-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) image texture features and diffusion-weighted (DW) MR image features in distinguishing prostate cancer (PCa) from normal tissue. We collected two image datasets: 23 PCa patients (25 PCa and 23 normal tissue regions of interest [ROIs]) imaged with Philips MR scanners, and 30 PCa patients (41 PCa and 26 normal tissue ROIs) imaged with GE MR scanners. A radiologist drew ROIs manually via consensus histology-MR correlation conference with a pathologist. A number of T_2-weighted texture features and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) features were investigated, and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) was used to combine select strong image features. Area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) was used to characterize feature effectiveness in distinguishing PCa from normal tissue ROIs. Of the features studied, ADC 10th percentile, ADC average, and T_2-weighted sum average yielded AUC values (±standard error) of 0.95±0.03, 0.94±0.03, and 0.85±0.05 on the Phillips images, and 0.91±0.04, 0.89±0.04, and 0.70±0.06 on the GE images, respectively. The three-feature combination yielded AUC values of 0.94±0.03 and 0.89±0.04 on the Phillips and GE images, respectively. ADC 10th percentile, ADC average, and T_2-weighted sum average, are effective in distinguishing PCa from normal tissue, and appear robust in images acquired from Phillips and GE MR scanners.