title: Constrained reverse diffusion for thick slice interpolation of 3D volumetric MRI images.
abstract: Due to physical limitations inherent in magnetic resonance imaging scanners, three dimensional volumetric scans are often acquired with anisotropic voxel resolution. We investigate several interpolation approaches to reduce the anisotropy and present a novel approach - constrained reverse diffusion for thick slice interpolation. This technique was compared to common methods: linear and cubic B-Spline interpolation and a technique based on non-rigid registration of neighboring slices. The methods were evaluated on artificial MR phantoms and real MR scans of human brain. The constrained reverse diffusion approach delivered promising results and provides an alternative for thick slice interpolation, especially for higher anisotropy factors.
authors.affiliation: CSIRO ICT Centre, The Australian e-Health Research Centre, Brisbane, Australia. ales.neubert@csiro.au
authors.forename: Aleš
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Neubert
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Salvado
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Acosta
authors.forename: Pierrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bourgeat
authors.forename: Jurgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fripp
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D019412:Anatomy, Cross-Sectional / Q000379:methods*; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity