System and method for confidence maps for quantitative mapping with magnetic resonance imaging
AssigneeWisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
InventorsDaiki Tamada, Scott Reeder
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system and method are provided for generating at least one confidence map indicating the accuracy of a quantitative map generated from magnetic resonance (MR) data acquired from a subject. The method includes accessing at least one of proton density fat fraction (PDFF) or R2* maps of a region of interest (ROI) of a subject produced using chemical-shift encoded magnetic resonance (MR) data acquired from the ROI in the subject, generating at least one confidence map that indicates an accuracy of the at least one of the PDFF or R2* maps, and outputting at least one of (i) the at least one confidence map or (ii) a corrected PDFF or R2* map that is corrected using the at least one confidence map.
Claims20
A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system comprising:
- a magnet system configured to generate a static magnetic field (B0) about at least a portion of a subject arranged in the MRI system;
- a plurality of gradient coils configured to apply magnetic gradients to the polarizing magnetic field;
- a radio frequency (RF) system configured to apply an excitation field to the subject;
- a computer system programmed to:
- control the plurality of gradient coils and the RF system to perform a multi-echo gradient echo pulse sequence to acquire chemical-shift encoded magnetic resonance (MR) data from a region of interest (ROI) in the subject;
- estimate at least one of proton density fat fraction (PDFF) or R2* in the ROI using a complex signal model and the MR data by performing at least one of:
- identifying areas in the ROI with signals for PDFF or R2* measurements below a threshold selected by the computer system,
- identifying water-fat swapping in the MR data identified by the computer system, or
- excluding areas in the ROI with invalid PDFF or R2* measurements identified by the computer system;
- generate at least one confidence map that indicates an accuracy of the estimate of the at least one of the PDFF or R2* in the ROI;
- and
- a display to display one of (i) the at least one confidence map or (ii) a PDFF or R2* map corrected using the at least one confidence map.
A method for generating at least one confidence map indicating the accuracy of a quantitative map generated from magnetic resonance (MR) data acquired from a subject, the method comprising:
- accessing, using a computer system, at least one of a proton density fat fraction (PDFF) map or R2* map produced from the MR data using a complex signal model;
- the computer system identifying, using the at least one of the PDFF map or R2* map and a threshold, spatial locations in the PDFF map or R2* map with at least one of poor quality of signals for PDFF or R2* measurements or water-fat swaps;
- and
- communicating, using the computer system, a report including at least one of (i) the spatial locations with poor quality of signals for PDFF or R2* measurements or water-fat swaps or (ii) a PDFF or R2* map corrected using the spatial locations with poor quality of signals for PDFF or R2* measurements or water-fat swaps.
A non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a computer processor, causes the computer processor to carry out steps comprising:
- accessing at least one of proton density fat fraction (PDFF) or R2* maps of a region of interest (ROI) of a subject produced using chemical-shift encoded magnetic resonance (MR) data acquired from the ROI in the subject;
- generating at least one confidence map that indicates an accuracy of the at least one of the PDFF or R2* maps and identifying spatial locations with strong R2* decay;
- and
- outputting at least one of (i) the at least one confidence map or (ii) a corrected PDFF or R2* map that is corrected using the at least one confidence map.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.