title: Multi-exponential analysis of magnitude MR images using a quantitative multispectral edge-preserving filter.
abstract: A solution for discrete multi-exponential analysis of T(2) relaxation decay curves obtained in current multi-echo imaging protocol conditions is described. We propose a preprocessing step to improve the signal-to-noise ratio and thus lower the signal-to-noise ratio threshold from which a high percentage of true multi-exponential detection is detected. It consists of a multispectral nonlinear edge-preserving filter that takes into account the signal-dependent Rician distribution of noise affecting magnitude MR images. Discrete multi-exponential decomposition, which requires no a priori knowledge, is performed by a non-linear least-squares procedure initialized with estimates obtained from a total least-squares linear prediction algorithm. This approach was validated and optimized experimentally on simulated data sets of normal human brains.
authors.affiliation: INRA Unité STIM, Centre de Theix, 63122 Saint-Genès Champanelle, France. bonny@clermont.inra.fr
authors.forename: Jean Marie
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Bonny
authors.forename: Odile
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Boespflug-Tanguly
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zanca
authors.forename: Jean Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Renou
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008953:Models, Anatomic; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted