Whole-Brain Water Content Mapping Using Super-Resolution Reconstruction with MRI Acquisition in 3 Orthogonal Orientations

Dennis C. Thomas*, Ana Maria Oros-Peusquens*, Dirk Poot, N. Jon Shah

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)
137 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Purpose: Brain water content provides rich tissue contrast comparable to that of longitudinal relaxation time T1, but mapping is usually performed at modest resolution. In particular, the slice thickness in 2D mapping methods is limited. Here, we combine super-resolution reconstruction techniques with a fast water content mapping method to acquire high and isotropic resolution (0.75 mm) water content maps at 3 Tesla. Methods: A high-resolution multi-echo gradient echo image is super-resolution–reconstructed from 3 low-resolution, orthogonal multi-echo gradient echo image acquisitions, followed by water content mapping. The mapping accuracy and SNR of the proposed method are assessed using numerical simulations, phantom studies, and in vivo data acquired from 6 healthy volunteers at 3 Tesla. A high-resolution acquisition with an established mapping method is used as a reference. Results: Whole-brain water content maps with 0.75 mm isotropic resolution are demonstrated. No bias in the water content values was seen following super-resolution reconstruction. In the in vivo experiments, a lower SD of the mean water content values was observed with the proposed method compared to the reference method. Conclusions: Super-resolution reconstruction of multi-echo gradient echo data is demonstrated, enabling whole-brain water content mapping with high and isotropic resolution. The accuracy of the proposed method is shown using phantoms and 6 healthy volunteers and was found to be unchanged compared to the conventional acquisition. The proposed method could increase the sensitivity of water content mapping sufficiently to enable the detection of very small lesions, such as cortical lesions in multiple sclerosis.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2117-2130
Number of pages14
JournalMagnetic Resonance in Medicine
Volume88
Issue number5
Early online date21 Jul 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Supported by the European Union's (EU) Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska‐Curie grant agreement, 764513

Funding Information:
information Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions, Grant/Award Number: 764513; Horizon 2020, European UnionThis work was supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 764513. The authors would like to thank Fabian Küppers and Michael Schöneck for help with phantom preparation and Claire Rick for help with English proofreading. Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska‐Curie grant agreement no. 764513. The authors would like to thank Fabian Küppers and Michael Schöneck for help with phantom preparation and Claire Rick for help with English proofreading. Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

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