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Schuhholz M, Ruff C, Bürkle E, Feiweier T, Clifford B, Kowarik M, Bender B. Ultrafast Brain MRI at 3 T for MS: Evaluation of a 51-Second Deep Learning-Enhanced T2-EPI-FLAIR Sequence. Diagnostics (Basel) 2024; 14:1841. [PMID: 39272626 PMCID: PMC11393910 DOI: 10.3390/diagnostics14171841] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2024] [Revised: 08/18/2024] [Accepted: 08/20/2024] [Indexed: 09/15/2024] Open
Abstract
In neuroimaging, there is no equivalent alternative to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, image acquisitions are generally time-consuming, which may limit utilization in some cases, e.g., in patients who cannot remain motionless for long or suffer from claustrophobia, or in the event of extensive waiting times. For multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, MRI plays a major role in drug therapy decision-making. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether an ultrafast, T2-weighted (T2w), deep learning-enhanced (DL), echo-planar-imaging-based (EPI) fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) sequence (FLAIRUF) that has targeted neurological emergencies so far might even be an option to detect MS lesions of the brain compared to conventional FLAIR sequences. Therefore, 17 MS patients were enrolled prospectively in this exploratory study. Standard MRI protocols and ultrafast acquisitions were conducted at 3 tesla (T), including three-dimensional (3D)-FLAIR, turbo/fast spin-echo (TSE)-FLAIR, and FLAIRUF. Inflammatory lesions were grouped by size and location. Lesion conspicuity and image quality were rated on an ordinal five-point Likert scale, and lesion detection rates were calculated. Statistical analyses were performed to compare results. Altogether, 568 different lesions were found. Data indicated no significant differences in lesion detection (sensitivity and positive predictive value [PPV]) between FLAIRUF and axially reconstructed 3D-FLAIR (lesion size ≥3 mm × ≥2 mm) and no differences in sensitivity between FLAIRUF and TSE-FLAIR (lesion size ≥3 mm total). Lesion conspicuity in FLAIRUF was similar in all brain regions except for superior conspicuity in the occipital lobe and inferior conspicuity in the central brain regions. Further findings include location-dependent limitations of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) as well as artifacts such as spatial distortions in FLAIRUF. In conclusion, FLAIRUF could potentially be an expedient alternative to conventional methods for brain imaging in MS patients since the acquisition can be performed in a fraction of time while maintaining good image quality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Schuhholz
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, Eberhard Karls University, University Hospital, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Christer Ruff
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, Eberhard Karls University, University Hospital, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Eva Bürkle
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, Eberhard Karls University, University Hospital, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | | | | | - Markus Kowarik
- Department of Neurology and Stroke, Neurological Clinic, Eberhard Karls University, University Hospital, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Benjamin Bender
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, Eberhard Karls University, University Hospital, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
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Cho J, Gagoski B, Kim TH, Wang F, Manhard MK, Dean D, Kecskemeti S, Caprihan A, Lo WC, Splitthoff DN, Liu W, Polak D, Cauley S, Setsompop K, Grant PE, Bilgic B. Time-efficient, high-resolution 3T whole-brain relaxometry using 3D-QALAS with wave-CAIPI readouts. Magn Reson Med 2024; 91:630-639. [PMID: 37705496 DOI: 10.1002/mrm.29865] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2023] [Revised: 07/16/2023] [Accepted: 08/25/2023] [Indexed: 09/15/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Volumetric, high-resolution, quantitative mapping of brain-tissue relaxation properties is hindered by long acquisition times and SNR challenges. This study combines time-efficient wave-controlled aliasing in parallel imaging (wave-CAIPI) readouts with the 3D quantification using an interleaved Look-Locker acquisition sequence with a T2 preparation pulse (3D-QALAS), enabling full-brain quantitative T1 , T2 , and proton density (PD) maps at 1.15-mm3 isotropic voxels in 3 min. METHODS Wave-CAIPI readouts were embedded in the standard 3D-QALAS encoding scheme, enabling full-brain quantitative parameter maps (T1 , T2 , and PD) at acceleration factors of R = 3 × 2 with minimum SNR loss due to g-factor penalties. The quantitative parameter maps were estimated using a dictionary-based mapping algorithm incorporating inversion efficiency and B1 -field inhomogeneity effects. The parameter maps using the accelerated protocol were quantitatively compared with those obtained from the conventional 3D-QALAS sequence using GRAPPA acceleration of R = 2 in the ISMRM/NIST phantom, and in 10 healthy volunteers. RESULTS When tested in both the ISMRM/NIST phantom and 10 healthy volunteers, the quantitative maps using the accelerated protocol showed excellent agreement against those obtained from conventional 3D-QALAS at RGRAPPA = 2. CONCLUSION Three-dimensional QALAS enhanced with wave-CAIPI readouts enables time-efficient, full-brain quantitative T1 , T2 , and PD mapping at 1.15 mm3 in 3 min at R = 3 × 2 acceleration. The quantitative maps obtained from the accelerated wave-CAIPI 3D-QALAS protocol showed very similar values to those from the standard 3D-QALAS (R = 2) protocol, alluding to the robustness and reliability of the proposed method.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaejin Cho
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Borjan Gagoski
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging & Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Tae Hyung Kim
- Department of Computer Engineering, Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Fuyixue Wang
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Mary Kate Manhard
- Department of Radiology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
| | - Douglas Dean
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Steven Kecskemeti
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | | | - Wei-Ching Lo
- Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc., Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA
| | | | - Wei Liu
- Siemens Healthcare GmbH, Erlangen, Germany
| | | | - Stephen Cauley
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Kawin Setsompop
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
- Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Patricia Ellen Grant
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging & Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Berkin Bilgic
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Harvard/MIT Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
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Ji Y, Wu W, de Buck MHS, Okell T, Jezzard P. Highly accelerated intracranial time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography using wave-encoding. Magn Reson Med 2023; 90:432-443. [PMID: 37010811 PMCID: PMC10953028 DOI: 10.1002/mrm.29647] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2022] [Revised: 03/03/2023] [Accepted: 03/08/2023] [Indexed: 04/04/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE To develop an accelerated 3D intracranial time-of-flight (TOF) magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) sequence with wave-encoding (referred to as 3D wave-TOF) and to evaluate two variants: wave-controlled aliasing in parallel imaging (CAIPI) and compressed-sensing wave (CS-wave). METHODS A wave-TOF sequence was implemented on a 3 T clinical scanner. Wave-encoded and Cartesian k-space datasets from six healthy volunteers were retrospectively and prospectively undersampled with 2D-CAIPI sampling and variable-density Poisson disk sampling. 2D-CAIPI, wave-CAIPI, standard CS, and CS-wave schemes were compared at various acceleration factors. Flow-related artifacts in wave-TOF were investigated, and a set of practicable wave parameters was developed. Quantitative analysis of wave-TOF and traditional Cartesian TOF MRA was performed by comparing the contrast-to-background ratio between the vessel and background tissue in source images, and the structural similarity index measure (SSIM) between the maximum intensity projection images from accelerated acquisitions and their respective fully sampled references. RESULTS Flow-related artifacts caused by the wave-encoding gradients in wave-TOF were eliminated by properly chosen parameters. Images from wave-CAIPI and CS-wave acquisitions had a higher SNR and better-preserved contrast than traditional parallel imaging (PI) and CS methods. Maximum intensity projection images from wave-CAIPI and CS-wave acquisitions had a cleaner background, with vessels that were better depicted. Quantitative analyses indicated that wave-CAIPI had the highest contrast-to-background ratio, SSIM, and vessel-masked SSIM among the sampling schemes studied, followed by the CS-wave acquisition. CONCLUSION 3D wave-TOF improves the capability of accelerated MRA and provides better image quality at higher acceleration factors compared to traditional PI- or CS-accelerated TOF, suggesting the potential use of wave-TOF in cerebrovascular disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yang Ji
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, FMRIB Division, Nuffield Department of Clinical NeurosciencesUniversity of Oxford
OxfordUK
| | - Wenchuan Wu
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, FMRIB Division, Nuffield Department of Clinical NeurosciencesUniversity of Oxford
OxfordUK
| | - Matthijs H. S. de Buck
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, FMRIB Division, Nuffield Department of Clinical NeurosciencesUniversity of Oxford
OxfordUK
| | - Thomas Okell
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, FMRIB Division, Nuffield Department of Clinical NeurosciencesUniversity of Oxford
OxfordUK
| | - Peter Jezzard
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, FMRIB Division, Nuffield Department of Clinical NeurosciencesUniversity of Oxford
OxfordUK
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Wave-Encoded Model-Based Deep Learning for Highly Accelerated Imaging with Joint Reconstruction. BIOENGINEERING (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 9:bioengineering9120736. [PMID: 36550942 PMCID: PMC9774601 DOI: 10.3390/bioengineering9120736] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2022] [Revised: 11/21/2022] [Accepted: 11/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
A recently introduced model-based deep learning (MoDL) technique successfully incorporates convolutional neural network (CNN)-based regularizers into physics-based parallel imaging reconstruction using a small number of network parameters. Wave-controlled aliasing in parallel imaging (CAIPI) is an emerging parallel imaging method that accelerates imaging acquisition by employing sinusoidal gradients in the phase- and slice/partition-encoding directions during the readout to take better advantage of 3D coil sensitivity profiles. We propose wave-encoded MoDL (wave-MoDL) combining the wave-encoding strategy with unrolled network constraints for highly accelerated 3D imaging while enforcing data consistency. We extend wave-MoDL to reconstruct multicontrast data with CAIPI sampling patterns to leverage similarity between multiple images to improve the reconstruction quality. We further exploit this to enable rapid quantitative imaging using an interleaved look-locker acquisition sequence with T2 preparation pulse (3D-QALAS). Wave-MoDL enables a 40 s MPRAGE acquisition at 1 mm resolution at 16-fold acceleration. For quantitative imaging, wave-MoDL permits a 1:50 min acquisition for T1, T2, and proton density mapping at 1 mm resolution at 12-fold acceleration, from which contrast-weighted images can be synthesized as well. In conclusion, wave-MoDL allows rapid MR acquisition and high-fidelity image reconstruction and may facilitate clinical and neuroscientific applications by incorporating unrolled neural networks into wave-CAIPI reconstruction.
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