TY - JOUR
T1 - CEST and nuclear Overhauser enhancement imaging with deep learning–extrapolated semisolid magnetization transfer reference
T2 - Scan-rescan reproducibility and reliability studies
AU - Heo, Hye Young
AU - Singh, Munendra
AU - Yedavalli, Vivek
AU - Jiang, Shanshan
AU - Zhou, Jinyuan
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.
PY - 2024/3
Y1 - 2024/3
N2 - Purpose: To develop a novel MR physics-driven, deep-learning, extrapolated semisolid magnetization transfer reference (DeepEMR) framework to provide fast, reliable magnetization transfer contrast (MTC) and CEST signal estimations, and to determine the reproducibility and reliability of the estimates from the DeepEMR. Methods: A neural network was designed to predict a direct water saturation and MTC-dominated signal at a certain CEST frequency offset using a few high-frequency offset features in the Z-spectrum. The accuracy, scan-rescan reproducibility, and reliability of MTC, CEST, and relayed nuclear Overhauser enhancement (rNOE) signals estimated from the DeepEMR were evaluated on numerical phantoms and in heathy volunteers at 3 T. In addition, we applied the DeepEMR method to brain tumor patients and compared tissue contrast with other CEST calculation metrics. Results: The DeepEMR method demonstrated a high degree of accuracy in the estimation of reference MTC signals at ±3.5 ppm for APT and rNOE imaging, and computational efficiency (˜190-fold) compared with a conventional fitting approach. In addition, the DeepEMR method achieved high reproducibility and reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.97, intersubject coefficient of variation = 3.5%, and intrasubject coefficient of variation = 1.3%) of the estimation of MTC signals at ±3.5 ppm. In tumor patients, DeepEMR-based amide proton transfer images provided higher tumor contrast than a conventional MT ratio asymmetry image, particularly at higher B1 strengths (>1.5 μT), with a distinct delineation of the tumor core from normal tissue or peritumoral edema. Conclusion: The DeepEMR approach is feasible for measuring clean APT and rNOE effects in longitudinal and cross-sectional studies with low scan-rescan variability.
AB - Purpose: To develop a novel MR physics-driven, deep-learning, extrapolated semisolid magnetization transfer reference (DeepEMR) framework to provide fast, reliable magnetization transfer contrast (MTC) and CEST signal estimations, and to determine the reproducibility and reliability of the estimates from the DeepEMR. Methods: A neural network was designed to predict a direct water saturation and MTC-dominated signal at a certain CEST frequency offset using a few high-frequency offset features in the Z-spectrum. The accuracy, scan-rescan reproducibility, and reliability of MTC, CEST, and relayed nuclear Overhauser enhancement (rNOE) signals estimated from the DeepEMR were evaluated on numerical phantoms and in heathy volunteers at 3 T. In addition, we applied the DeepEMR method to brain tumor patients and compared tissue contrast with other CEST calculation metrics. Results: The DeepEMR method demonstrated a high degree of accuracy in the estimation of reference MTC signals at ±3.5 ppm for APT and rNOE imaging, and computational efficiency (˜190-fold) compared with a conventional fitting approach. In addition, the DeepEMR method achieved high reproducibility and reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.97, intersubject coefficient of variation = 3.5%, and intrasubject coefficient of variation = 1.3%) of the estimation of MTC signals at ±3.5 ppm. In tumor patients, DeepEMR-based amide proton transfer images provided higher tumor contrast than a conventional MT ratio asymmetry image, particularly at higher B1 strengths (>1.5 μT), with a distinct delineation of the tumor core from normal tissue or peritumoral edema. Conclusion: The DeepEMR approach is feasible for measuring clean APT and rNOE effects in longitudinal and cross-sectional studies with low scan-rescan variability.
KW - APT
KW - CEST
KW - deep learning
KW - magnetization transfer
KW - rNOE
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U2 - 10.1002/mrm.29937
DO - 10.1002/mrm.29937
M3 - Article
C2 - 38009996
AN - SCOPUS:85177884187
SN - 0740-3194
VL - 91
SP - 1002
EP - 1015
JO - Magnetic resonance in medicine
JF - Magnetic resonance in medicine
IS - 3
ER -