Ultrashort echo time time-spatial labeling inversion pulse magnetic resonance angiography with denoising deep learning reconstruction for the assessment of abdominal visceral arteries

Ryuichi Mori; Yoshimori Kassai; Atsuro Masuda; Yoshiaki Morita; Tomoyoshi Kimura; Tatsuo Nagasaka; Takashi Nishina; Sho Tanaka; Mitsue Miyazaki; Kei Takase; Hideki Ota

doi:10.1002/jmri.27481

Ultrashort echo time time-spatial labeling inversion pulse magnetic resonance angiography with denoising deep learning reconstruction for the assessment of abdominal visceral arteries

J Magn Reson Imaging. 2021 Jun;53(6):1926-1937. doi: 10.1002/jmri.27481. Epub 2020 Dec 26.

Authors

Ryuichi Mori¹, Yoshimori Kassai², Atsuro Masuda³, Yoshiaki Morita³, Tomoyoshi Kimura¹, Tatsuo Nagasaka¹, Takashi Nishina², Sho Tanaka², Mitsue Miyazaki⁴, Kei Takase^{3

5

6}, Hideki Ota^{3

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiology, Tohoku University Hospital, Sendai, Japan.
² Canon Medical Systems Corporation, Tochigi, Japan.
³ Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Tohoku University Hospital, Sendai, Japan.
⁴ Department of Radiology, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California, USA.
⁵ Department of Advanced MRI Collaboration Research, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
⁶ Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.

PMID: 33368773
DOI: 10.1002/jmri.27481

Abstract

Current contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and non-contrast-enhanced balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) MRA cause susceptibility artifacts from metallic devices in assessing endovascular visceral-artery interventions. The aims of this study are to investigate and compare image quality (IQ) and susceptibility artifacts of three-dimensional (3D) ultrashort echo time (UTE) time-spatial labeling inversion pulse (Time-SLIP) with those of 3D bSSFP Time-SLIP and to assess denoising deep learning reconstruction (dDLR) for the improvement of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in 3D UTE with sparse sampling in phantoms and human subjects. This is a prospective type of study. Pulsatile glycerin-water flow phantom with platinum-tungsten-alloy coil, stainless-steel, nitinol, and cobalt-alloy stents were used. Ten healthy volunteers (seven males) and three patients (two males) were included in this study. 3D UTE Time-SLIP and 3D bSSFP Time-SLIP at 3T were used. The phantom-based study compared the signal-intensity ratio of the device levels (SR_device ) and distal segments (SR_distal ) to the proximal segments. The volunteer-based study measured SNR, contrast ratio (CR), and IQ. The patient study evaluated local artifacts from metallic devices. Statistical tests included paired t-tests, Wilcoxon-signed rank tests, and Kruskal-Wallis tests. In the phantom-based study, SR_device was small with UTE Time-SLIP, except the stainless-steel stent. SR_distal was greater (49.1%-90.4%) on bSSFP images than UTE images (-11.1% to 9.6%). Among volunteers, dDLR in UTE images improved SNR (p < 0.05) and IQ (p < 0.05), but CR was unaffected. UTE Time-SLIP showed inferior SNR and IQ than bSSFP Time-SLIP in images with and without dDLR (p < 0.05 for each). However, among patients, UTE Time-SLIP showed reduced metal artifacts compared to bSSFP Time-SLIP. Irrespective of the lower SNR and IQ of 3D UTE Time-SLIP than those of 3D bSSFP Time-SLIP, the former appeared to better depict flow after stenting or coiling. This indicates the potential of 3D UTE Time-SLIP to provide suitable diagnostic images of target vessels. dDLR improved SNR with reducing artifacts related to radial sampling, while maintaining the contrast. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2. TECHNICAL EFFICACY STAGE: 2.

Keywords: deep learning; metallic devices; ultrashort echo time magnetic resonance angiography; visceral arterial disease.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Arteries
Artifacts
Deep Learning*
Humans
Imaging, Three-Dimensional
Magnetic Resonance Angiography*
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Prospective Studies