Unveiling the biological side of PET-derived biomarkers: a simulation-based approach applied to PDAC assessment

Purpose: Radiomics has revolutionized clinical research by enabling objective measurements of imaging-derived biomarkers. However, the true potential of radiomics necessitates a comprehensive understanding of the biological basis of extracted features to serve as a clinical decision support. In this work, we propose an end-to-end framework for the in silico simulation of [18F]FLT PET imaging process in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma, accounting for the biological characterization of tissues (including perfusion and fibrosis) on tracer delivery. We thus establish a direct association between radiomics features and the underlying biological properties of tissues. Methods: We considered 4 immunohistochemically stained Whole Slide Images of pancreatic tissue of one healthy control and three patients with PDAC and/or precursor lesions. From marker-specific images, tissue-depending diffusivity properties were estimated and computational domains were built to simulate the [18F]FLT spatial-temporal uptake exploiting Partial Differential Equations and Finite Elements Method. Consequently, we simulated the imaging process obtaining surrogated PET images for the considered patients, and we performed image-derived features extraction from PET images to be mapped with biological properties via correlation estimation. Results: The framework captured the phenotypic differences and generated Time Activity Curves reflecting the underlying tissue composition. Image-derived biomarkers were ranked in view of their association with biological characteristics of the tissue, unveiling their molecular correlative. Moreover, we showed that the proposed pipeline could serve as a digital phantom to optimize the image acquisition for lesion detection. Conclusions: This innovative framework holds the potential to enhance interpretability and reliability of radiomics, fostering the adoption in personalized nuclear medicine and patient care.