Regularized Image Reconstruction In Parallel Mri With Matlab PDF Download

This dissertation, "Advances in Parallel Imaging Reconstruction Techniques" by Peng, Qu, 瞿蓬, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. Abstract: Abstract of thesis entitled Advances in Parallel Imaging Reconstruction Techniques submitted by Qu Peng for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Hong Kong in February 2006 In recent years, a new approach to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), known as "parallel imaging," has revolutionized the field of fast MRI. By using sensitivity information from an RF coil array to perform some of the spatial encoding which is traditionally accomplished by magnetic field gradient, parallel imaging techniques allow reduction of phase encoding steps and consequently decrease the scan time. This thesis presents the author''s investigations in the reconstruction techniques of parallel MRI. After reviewing the conventional methods, such as the image-domain-based sensitivity encoding (SENSE), the k-space-based simultaneous acquisition of spatial harmonics (SMASH), generalized auto-calibrating partially parallel acquisition (GRAPPA), and the iterative SENSE method which is applicable to arbitrary k-space trajectories, the author proposes several advanced reconstruction strategies to enhance the performance of parallel imaging in terms of signal-to-noise (SNR), the power of aliasing artifacts, and computational efficiency. First, the conventional GRAPPA technique is extended in that the data interpolation scheme is tailored and optimized for each specific reconstruction. This novel approach extracts a subset of signal points corresponding to the most linearly independent base vectors in the coefficient matrix for the fit procedure, effectively preventing incorporating redundant signals which only bring noise into reconstruction with little contribution to the exactness of fit. Phantom and in vivo MRI experiments demonstrate that this subset selection strategy can reduce residual artifacts for GRAPPA reconstruction. Second, a novel discrepancy-based method for regularization parameter choice is introduced into GRAPPA reconstruction. By this strategy, adaptive regularization in GRAPPA can be realized which can automatically choose nearly optimal parameters for the reconstructions so as to achieve good compromise between SNR and artifacts. It is demonstrated by MRI experiments that the discrepancy-based parameter choice strategy significantly outperforms those based on the L-curve or on a fixed singular value threshold. Third, the convergence behavior of the iterative non-Cartesian SENSE reconstruction is analyzed, and two different strategies are proposed to make reconstructions more stable and robust. One idea is to stop the iteration process in due time so that artifacts and SNR are well balanced and fine overall image quality is achieved; as an alternative, the inner-regularization method, in combination with the Lanczos iteration process, is introduced into non-Cartesian SENSE to mitigate the ill-conditioning effect and improve the convergence behavior. Finally, a novel multi-resolution successive iteration (MRSI) algorithm for non-Cartesian parallel imaging is proposed. The conjugate gradient (CG) iteration is performed in several successive phases with increasing resolution. It is demonstrated by spiral MRI results that the total reconstruction time can be reduced by over 30% by using low resolution in initial stages of iteration. In sum, the author describes several developments in image reconstruction for sensitivity-encoded MRI. The great potential of parallel imaging in modern applications can be further enh