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Main Authors: Wang, Xiaoqing, Fan, Hongli, Tan, Zhengguo, Vasylechko, Serge, Yang, Edward, Didier, Ryne, Afacan, Onur, Uecker, Martin, Warfield, Simon K., Gholipour, Ali
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.00256
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author Wang, Xiaoqing
Fan, Hongli
Tan, Zhengguo
Vasylechko, Serge
Yang, Edward
Didier, Ryne
Afacan, Onur
Uecker, Martin
Warfield, Simon K.
Gholipour, Ali
author_facet Wang, Xiaoqing
Fan, Hongli
Tan, Zhengguo
Vasylechko, Serge
Yang, Edward
Didier, Ryne
Afacan, Onur
Uecker, Martin
Warfield, Simon K.
Gholipour, Ali
contents Purpose: To develop a rapid, high-resolution and distortion-free technique for simultaneous water-fat separation, $R_{2}^{*}$ and $B_{0}$ mapping of the fetal brain at 3T. Methods: A 2D multi-echo radial FLASH sequence with blip gradients is adapted for data acquisition during maternal free breathing. A calibrationless model-based reconstruction with sparsity constraints is developed to jointly estimate water, fat, $R_{2}^{*}$ and $B_{0}$ field maps directly from k-space. This approach was validated and compared to reference methods using numerical and NIST phantoms and data from nine fetuses between 26 and 36 weeks of gestation age. Results: Both numerical and experimental phantom studies confirm good accuracy and precision. In fetal studies, model-based reconstruction yields quantitative $R_{2}^{*}$ values in close agreement with those from a parallel imaging compressed sensing (PICS) technique using Graph Cut (intra-class correlation coefficient [ICC] = 0.9601), while providing enhanced image detail. Repeated scans confirm good reproducibility (ICC = 0.9213). Compared to multi-echo EPI, the proposed radial technique produces higher-resolution (1.1 $\times$ 1.1 $\times$ 3 mm$^{3}$ vs. 2-3 $\times$ 2-3 $\times$ 3 mm$^{3}$) $R_{2}^{*}$ maps with reduced distortion. Despite of differences in motion, resolution and distortion, $R_{2}^{*}$ values are comparable between the two acquisition strategies (ICC = 0.8049). Additionally, the proposed approach enables synthesis of high-resolution and distortion-free $R_{2}^{*}$-weighted images. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the feasibility of using multi-echo radial FLASH combined with calibrationless model-based reconstruction for motion-robust, distortion-free $R_{2}^{*}$ mapping of the fetal brain at 3T, achieving a nominal resolution of $1.1 \times 1.1 \times 3$ mm$^{3}$ within 2 seconds per slice.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_00256
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Rapid, High-resolution and Distortion-free $R_{2}^{*}$ Mapping of Fetal Brain using Multi-echo Radial FLASH and Model-based Reconstruction
Wang, Xiaoqing
Fan, Hongli
Tan, Zhengguo
Vasylechko, Serge
Yang, Edward
Didier, Ryne
Afacan, Onur
Uecker, Martin
Warfield, Simon K.
Gholipour, Ali
Medical Physics
Purpose: To develop a rapid, high-resolution and distortion-free technique for simultaneous water-fat separation, $R_{2}^{*}$ and $B_{0}$ mapping of the fetal brain at 3T. Methods: A 2D multi-echo radial FLASH sequence with blip gradients is adapted for data acquisition during maternal free breathing. A calibrationless model-based reconstruction with sparsity constraints is developed to jointly estimate water, fat, $R_{2}^{*}$ and $B_{0}$ field maps directly from k-space. This approach was validated and compared to reference methods using numerical and NIST phantoms and data from nine fetuses between 26 and 36 weeks of gestation age. Results: Both numerical and experimental phantom studies confirm good accuracy and precision. In fetal studies, model-based reconstruction yields quantitative $R_{2}^{*}$ values in close agreement with those from a parallel imaging compressed sensing (PICS) technique using Graph Cut (intra-class correlation coefficient [ICC] = 0.9601), while providing enhanced image detail. Repeated scans confirm good reproducibility (ICC = 0.9213). Compared to multi-echo EPI, the proposed radial technique produces higher-resolution (1.1 $\times$ 1.1 $\times$ 3 mm$^{3}$ vs. 2-3 $\times$ 2-3 $\times$ 3 mm$^{3}$) $R_{2}^{*}$ maps with reduced distortion. Despite of differences in motion, resolution and distortion, $R_{2}^{*}$ values are comparable between the two acquisition strategies (ICC = 0.8049). Additionally, the proposed approach enables synthesis of high-resolution and distortion-free $R_{2}^{*}$-weighted images. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the feasibility of using multi-echo radial FLASH combined with calibrationless model-based reconstruction for motion-robust, distortion-free $R_{2}^{*}$ mapping of the fetal brain at 3T, achieving a nominal resolution of $1.1 \times 1.1 \times 3$ mm$^{3}$ within 2 seconds per slice.
title Rapid, High-resolution and Distortion-free $R_{2}^{*}$ Mapping of Fetal Brain using Multi-echo Radial FLASH and Model-based Reconstruction
topic Medical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.00256