Keywords: Contrast mechanisms: Relaxometry, Image acquisition: Quantification, Transferable skills: Reproducible research
Parametric mapping (also known as qMRI, compositional MRI, T1/T2 mapping, etc.) has made critical diagnostic contributions in most subspecialties of radiology because it provides compositional information on the tissue, but it is not always clear what is needed in new technologies. After an introduction on common sources of bias and variance of the relaxation parameters, we will discuss how to validate new mapping techniques. This includes how to quantify metrics such as accuracy, precision, reproducibility, sensitivity, and specificity through numerical simulations, phantoms, animal models, healthy volunteers, and patient cohorts.