HepatoGEN: Generating Hepatobiliary Phase MRI with Perceptual and Adversarial Models

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Hooge, Jens, Sanroma-Guell, Gerard, Stavropoulou, Faidra, Ullmann, Alexander, Knobloch, Gesine, Klemens, Mark, Schmidt, Carola, Weckbach, Sabine, Bolz, Andreas
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Hooge, Jens
Sanroma-Guell, Gerard
Stavropoulou, Faidra
Ullmann, Alexander
Knobloch, Gesine
Klemens, Mark
Schmidt, Carola
Weckbach, Sabine
Bolz, Andreas
author_facet Hooge, Jens
Sanroma-Guell, Gerard
Stavropoulou, Faidra
Ullmann, Alexander
Knobloch, Gesine
Klemens, Mark
Schmidt, Carola
Weckbach, Sabine
Bolz, Andreas
contents Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) plays a crucial role in the detection and characterization of focal liver lesions, with the hepatobiliary phase (HBP) providing essential diagnostic information. However, acquiring HBP images requires prolonged scan times, which may compromise patient comfort and scanner throughput. In this study, we propose a deep learning based approach for synthesizing HBP images from earlier contrast phases (precontrast and transitional) and compare three generative models: a perceptual U-Net, a perceptual GAN (pGAN), and a denoising diffusion probabilistic model (DDPM). We curated a multi-site DCE-MRI dataset from diverse clinical settings and introduced a contrast evolution score (CES) to assess training data quality, enhancing model performance. Quantitative evaluation using pixel-wise and perceptual metrics, combined with qualitative assessment through blinded radiologist reviews, showed that pGAN achieved the best quantitative performance but introduced heterogeneous contrast in out-of-distribution cases. In contrast, the U-Net produced consistent liver enhancement with fewer artifacts, while DDPM underperformed due to limited preservation of fine structural details. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of synthetic HBP image generation as a means to reduce scan time without compromising diagnostic utility, highlighting the clinical potential of deep learning for dynamic contrast enhancement in liver MRI. A project demo is available at: https://jhooge.github.io/hepatogen
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_18405
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle HepatoGEN: Generating Hepatobiliary Phase MRI with Perceptual and Adversarial Models
Hooge, Jens
Sanroma-Guell, Gerard
Stavropoulou, Faidra
Ullmann, Alexander
Knobloch, Gesine
Klemens, Mark
Schmidt, Carola
Weckbach, Sabine
Bolz, Andreas
Image and Video Processing
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) plays a crucial role in the detection and characterization of focal liver lesions, with the hepatobiliary phase (HBP) providing essential diagnostic information. However, acquiring HBP images requires prolonged scan times, which may compromise patient comfort and scanner throughput. In this study, we propose a deep learning based approach for synthesizing HBP images from earlier contrast phases (precontrast and transitional) and compare three generative models: a perceptual U-Net, a perceptual GAN (pGAN), and a denoising diffusion probabilistic model (DDPM). We curated a multi-site DCE-MRI dataset from diverse clinical settings and introduced a contrast evolution score (CES) to assess training data quality, enhancing model performance. Quantitative evaluation using pixel-wise and perceptual metrics, combined with qualitative assessment through blinded radiologist reviews, showed that pGAN achieved the best quantitative performance but introduced heterogeneous contrast in out-of-distribution cases. In contrast, the U-Net produced consistent liver enhancement with fewer artifacts, while DDPM underperformed due to limited preservation of fine structural details. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of synthetic HBP image generation as a means to reduce scan time without compromising diagnostic utility, highlighting the clinical potential of deep learning for dynamic contrast enhancement in liver MRI. A project demo is available at: https://jhooge.github.io/hepatogen
title HepatoGEN: Generating Hepatobiliary Phase MRI with Perceptual and Adversarial Models
topic Image and Video Processing
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.18405