Reduced respiratory motion artifacts using structural similarity in fast 2D dynamic contrast enhanced MRI of liver lesions.
The purpose of this work was to improve dynamic contrast enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) of liver lesions by removing motion corrupted images as identified by a structural similarity (SSIM) algorithm, and to assess the effect of this correction on the pharmacokinetic parameter Ktransusing automatically determined arterial input functions (AIFs). Fifteen patients with colorectal liver metastases were measured twice with a T1weighted multislice 2D FLASH sequence for DCE-MRI (time resolution 1.2 s). AIFs were automatically derived from contrast inflow in the aorta of each patient. Thereafter, SSIM identified motion corrupted images of the liver were removed from the DCE dataset. From this corrected data set Ktransand its reproducibility were determined. Using the SSIM algorithm a median fraction of 46% (range 37-50%) of the liver images in DCE time series was labeled as motion distorted. Rejection of these images resulted in a significantly lower median Ktrans(p < 0.05) and lower coefficient of repeatability of Ktransin liver metastases compared with an analysis without correction. SSIM correction improves the reproducibility of the DCE-MRI parameter Ktransin liver metastasis and reduces contamination of Ktransvalues of lesions by that of surrounding normal liver tissue.
Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. edwin.tervoert@usz.ch.
Edwin E G W
EE
Ter Voert
Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.|Department of Medical Oncology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Linda
L
Heijmen
Department of Medical Oncology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Cornelis J A
CJ
Punt
Department of Surgery, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Johannes H W
JH
de Wilt
Department of Medical Oncology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.|Department of Medical Oncology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Hanneke W M
HW
van Laarhoven
Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Arend
A
Heerschap
D000368:Aged; D000465:Algorithms; D016477:Artifacts; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D003287:Contrast Media; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000556:secondary*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009038:Motion; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D015656:Respiratory Mechanics; D055425:Respiratory-Gated Imaging Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013382:Subtraction Technique
D003287:Contrast Media
DCE-MRI; liver; motion; reproducibility; structural similarity; tumor