VQ-Wave: A physics-driven spatio-temporal deep learning approach for non-contrast-enhanced lung ventilation and perfusion MRI

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Bauman, Grzegorz, Panos, Pavlos, Latzin, Philipp, Bieri, Oliver
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Bauman, Grzegorz
Panos, Pavlos
Latzin, Philipp
Bieri, Oliver
author_facet Bauman, Grzegorz
Panos, Pavlos
Latzin, Philipp
Bieri, Oliver
contents Purpose: To develop a robust deep learning framework for non-contrast-enhanced functional lung MRI, overcoming the limitations of spectral decomposition in the presence of physiological non-stationarity. Methods: We introduce VQ-Wave (Ventilation/Q-perfusion Waveform-based Assessment of Variable Evolutions), a physics-driven spatio-temporal inception neural network trained on synthetic signal models to estimate ventilation and perfusion parameters. By processing local spatial context alongside temporal evolution, the network learns to decouple physiological signals from noise. The training generator simulated non-stationary dynamics, including amplitude modulations, frequency drifts, and noise. Performance was validated against matrix pencil (MP) decomposition using numerical phantoms and in-vivo lung MRI acquired in four healthy volunteers and two children with cystic fibrosis (CF) at 1.5T. Results: In numerical benchmarks, VQ-Wave demonstrated superior robustness to non-stationarity, maintaining low global and regional error rates where MP exhibited stochastic instability due to spectral leakage. In-vivo, VQ-Wave accurately captured functional defects in patients with CF yielding ventilation and perfusion maps with high quantitative stability (mean variation < 12%) even when scan time was reduced from 45s to 15s. Conversely, under irregular physiology and short scan lengths, MP decomposition severely degraded, exhibiting systematic amplitude instability, overestimation bias, and regional signal dropouts. Conclusion: VQ-Wave offers a robust, physics-driven neural network-based alternative to spectral decomposition. By effectively handling physiological irregularity and noise, it enables reliable functional lung imaging with substantially shortened acquisition protocols.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_16161
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle VQ-Wave: A physics-driven spatio-temporal deep learning approach for non-contrast-enhanced lung ventilation and perfusion MRI
Bauman, Grzegorz
Panos, Pavlos
Latzin, Philipp
Bieri, Oliver
Medical Physics
Purpose: To develop a robust deep learning framework for non-contrast-enhanced functional lung MRI, overcoming the limitations of spectral decomposition in the presence of physiological non-stationarity. Methods: We introduce VQ-Wave (Ventilation/Q-perfusion Waveform-based Assessment of Variable Evolutions), a physics-driven spatio-temporal inception neural network trained on synthetic signal models to estimate ventilation and perfusion parameters. By processing local spatial context alongside temporal evolution, the network learns to decouple physiological signals from noise. The training generator simulated non-stationary dynamics, including amplitude modulations, frequency drifts, and noise. Performance was validated against matrix pencil (MP) decomposition using numerical phantoms and in-vivo lung MRI acquired in four healthy volunteers and two children with cystic fibrosis (CF) at 1.5T. Results: In numerical benchmarks, VQ-Wave demonstrated superior robustness to non-stationarity, maintaining low global and regional error rates where MP exhibited stochastic instability due to spectral leakage. In-vivo, VQ-Wave accurately captured functional defects in patients with CF yielding ventilation and perfusion maps with high quantitative stability (mean variation < 12%) even when scan time was reduced from 45s to 15s. Conversely, under irregular physiology and short scan lengths, MP decomposition severely degraded, exhibiting systematic amplitude instability, overestimation bias, and regional signal dropouts. Conclusion: VQ-Wave offers a robust, physics-driven neural network-based alternative to spectral decomposition. By effectively handling physiological irregularity and noise, it enables reliable functional lung imaging with substantially shortened acquisition protocols.
title VQ-Wave: A physics-driven spatio-temporal deep learning approach for non-contrast-enhanced lung ventilation and perfusion MRI
topic Medical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.16161