Hing-Chiu Chang1,2, Mei-Lan Chu2, and Nan-Kuei Chen2
1Department of Diagnostic Radiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2Brain Imaging and Analysis Center, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, United States
Synopsis
The Propeller technique is a useful
acquisition scheme and reconstruction method to reduce motion artifact. However, the higher specific absorption rate (SAR)
of RF pulse at high-field magnetic strength can limit the number of multiple
slices for a given TR, which in turn reduces the efficiency of acquisition,
especially for Propeller-FSE sequence. A possible solution is to reduce the
echo-train-length with under-sampling of data of each blade.
In this study, we propose to apply POCSMUSE instead of SENSE
reconstruction and Propeller reconstruction, to reconstruct the image from all
under-sampled blade data with reduced noise amplification. The data acquired
from brain and liver using Propeller-GRE will be used to test purposed POCSMUSE
algorithm.Introduction
The periodically rotated overlapping parallel lines with enhanced
reconstruction (Propeller) technique is a useful acquisition scheme and
reconstruction method to reduce motion artifact (1). The main strategy of
Propeller acquisition scheme is to cover k-space with different rotating
blades, and each blade consists of a set of parallel k-space lines. It can be
combined with different imaging methods, such as fast-spin-echo (1) or
gradient-echo imaging (2), to fulfill different clinical applications. Recent
studies showed that Propeller technique can substantially reduce the motion
problem in both brain and body acquisitions. However, the higher specific
absorption rate (SAR) of RF pulse at high-field magnetic strength can limit the
number of multiple slices for a given TR, which in turn reduces the efficiency
of acquisition, especially for Propeller-FSE sequence. A possible solution is
to reduce the echo-train-length with under-sampling of data of each blade.
Afterward, the parallel imaging, such as sensitivity encoding (SENSE), can be used
to solve the aliased image before Propeller reconstruction (3). The main issue
of parallel imaging is undesired noise amplification during matrix inversion,
especially with high acceleration factor (e.g., R = 4). Projection onto convex
sets based multiplexed sensitivity encoding (POCSMUSE) reconstruction method
has been shown to be useful in reduction of motion-related artifact in
multi-shot acquisition with less noise amplification compared to conventional
SENSE reconstruction (4). In this study, we propose to apply POCSMUSE instead
of SENSE reconstruction and Propeller reconstruction, to reconstruct the image
from all under-sampled blade data with reduced noise amplification. The data
acquired from brain and liver using Propeller-GRE will be used to test purposed
POCSMUSE algorithm.
Material and Method
POCSMUSE reconstruction is a general algorithm that can be
applied to either Cartesian or
non-Cartesian k-space trajectory (4). For the under-sampled Propeller data, the SENSE
reconstruction can be applied to each blade data to solve the aliasing prior to
Propeller reconstruction. Figure 1 shows a 28 x 288 single blade image with high
acceleration factor R = 4 (7 of 28 central k-lines acquired) obtained from
SENSE reconstruction that can be clearly observed the undesired noise
amplification at the center of image. To reduce the undesired noise
amplification, the POCSMUSE algorithm method has been modified to the framework
shown in Figure 2a to accommodate multiple blade data. First, the
motion-induced and rotation-induced phase variation is estimated by using
POCSENSE method for each blade data, and then follows a low-pass filtering.
Afterward, an initial guess of source image (P0) was generated from direction
weighted-average of all under-sampled blade data with demodulation of both phase
variation and coil sensitivity (Fig. 3). Figure 2b shows a feasibility of bulk
motion correction incorporated into POCSMUSE framework for Propeller data set.
The bulk rotation and translation of each blade can be firstly estimated from
POCSENSE produced single blade image. The proposed reconstruction method was
evaluated with brain and liver Propeller-GRE data obtain from a 1.5T MRI
scanner (GE Healthcare): FOV = 24cm/40cm (for brain/liver), blade size = 28*288,
TE = 40ms/20ms (for brain/liver), TR = 50ms/25ms (for brain/liver), acceleration
factor R = 4/2 (for brain/liver), rotating angle = 12°, and 16 blades for 180°
k-space coverage.
Results
Figure 4 shows the brain images reconstructed from fully-sampled
data with Propeller reconstruction (Fig. 4a), under-sampled data with SENSE and
Propeller reconstruction (Fig. 4b), and under-sampled data with POCSMUSE
reconstruction (Fig. 4c). Figures 4a-4c show the POCSMUSE reconstructed liver images
acquired under free-breathing, breathing-hold, and respiratory-triggering. The
acquisition time of each reconstructed image
are also showed at below of image.
Discussion
Our study demonstrates that the POCSMUSE can be used to
reconstruct under-sampled Propeller data set with reduced noise amplification
compared with conventional SENSE reconstruction prior to Propeller
reconstruction. Although only Propeller-GRE data are presented in this study,
the reconstruction of under-sampled Propeller-FSE data should be comparable. It
is particularly useful for implementing Propeller-FSE at high magnetic field
because the under-sampling of each blade data can substantially reduce SAR
accumulation, thereby improving the acquisition efficiency. In
conclusion, POCSMUSE can successfully reconstruct under-sampled Propeller data
set with ability of motion correction and reduced noise amplification.
Acknowledgements
No acknowledgement found.References
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