This book provides a selection of essential knowledge on the image-based quantification of biophysical parameters for the purpose of clinical diagnosis. The authors regard clinical imaging scanners as physical measurement systems capable of quantifying intrinsic parameters for depiction of the constitution and biophysical properties of in vivo tissue. On the one hand, this approach supports the development of new methods of imaging highly reproducible, system-independent, and quantitative biomarkers, and these methods receive detailed attention in the book. On the other hand, the reader will also gain a deeper understanding of how physical tissue properties interact with the generation of signals in medical imaging, opening new windows on the intricate and fascinating relationship between the structure and function of living tissues. The book will be of interest to all who recognize the limitations of basing clinical diagnosis primarily on visual inspection of images and who wish tolearn more about the diagnostic potential of quantitative and biophysics-based medical imaging markers and the challenges that the paucity of such markers poses for next-generation imaging technologies.

PART I: Tissue properties: Multiscale biophysical interactions and parameters in medical imaging

The Extracellular matrix as target for medical imaging
Single cell physical properties and collective behavior in tumors
Biot's theory of biphasic poroelastic media and its application to incompressible tissue
Fluid dynamics in living systems
PART II: Imaging technology & data analysis: Mathematical Methods in Medical Image Processing
Computed Tomography: Acquisition and Reconstruction
Ultrasound elastography methods
PET measured water perfusion
Innovative radiotracers for PET
CEST-MRI.-Acceleration strategies for data sampling in MRI
Photoacoustic tomography
PART III: Medical applications: Tumor characterization by ultrasound perfusion measurements and elastography
4D flow quantification in cardiovascular MRI
Cardiac perfusion MRI
Noninvasive assessment of pressure-related imaging parameters in portal hypertension.-Biophysical Parameters measured by dyn

amic computed tomography in the clinic
Quantification of functional heterogeneities in tumors by PET imaging
Magnetic Resonance Myocardial Effective Transverse Relaxation Time at 7.0 Tesla for a Better Understanding of Myocardial (Patho)physiology.