title: Robust universal nonrigid motion correction framework for first-pass cardiac MR perfusion imaging.
abstract: To present and assess an automatic nonrigid image registration framework that compensates motion in cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) perfusion series and auxiliary images acquired under a wide range of conditions to facilitate myocardial perfusion quantification.
  
  
  
  Our framework combines discrete feature matching for large displacement estimation with a dense variational optical flow formulation in a multithreaded architecture. This framework was evaluated on 291 clinical subjects to register 1.5T and 3.0T steady-state free-precession (FISP) and fast low-angle shot (FLASH) dynamic contrast myocardial perfusion images, arterial input function (AIF) images, and proton density (PD)-weighted images acquired under breath-hold (BH) and free-breath (FB) settings.
  
  
  
  Our method significantly improved frame-to-frame appearance consistency compared to raw series, expressed in correlation coefficient (R2= 0.996 ± 3.735E-3 vs. 0.978 ± 2.024E-2, P < 0.0001) and mutual information (3.823 ± 4.098E-1 vs. 2.967 ± 4.697E-1, P < 0.0001). It is applicable to both BH (R2= 0.998 ± 3.217E-3 vs. 0.990 ± 7.527E-3) and FB (R2= 0.995 ± 3.410E-3 vs. 0.968 ± 2.257E-3) paradigms as well as FISP and FLASH sequences. The method registers PD images to perfusion T1series (9.70% max increase in R2vs. no registration, P < 0.001) and also corrects motion in low-resolution AIF series (R2= 0.987 ± 1.180E-2 vs. 0.964 ± 3.860E-2, P < 0.001). Finally, we showed the myocardial perfusion contrast dynamic was preserved in the motion-corrected images compared to the raw series (R2= 0.995 ± 6.420E-3).
  
  
  
  The critical step of motion correction prior to pixel-wise cardiac MR perfusion quantification can be performed with the proposed universal system. It is applicable to a wide range of perfusion series and auxiliary images with different acquisition settings.
  
  
  
  3 Technical Efficacy: Stage 1 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2017;46:1060-1072.
authors.affiliation: National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.|Department of Biomedical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, Canada.
authors.forename: Mitchel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Benovoy
authors.affiliation: National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.|Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Catholic University of America, Washington DC, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jacobs
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, Canada.
authors.forename: Farida
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cheriet
authors.affiliation: Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center, Montreal, Canada.
authors.forename: Nagib
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dahdah
authors.affiliation: National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.affiliation: National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Li-Yueh
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Hsu
mesh_terms: D016477:Artifacts; D062485:Breath Holding; D003287:Contrast Media; D006321:Heart / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D009038:Motion; D055414:Myocardial Perfusion Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D012119:Respiration
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media
keywords: cardiac magnetic resonance; contrast enhancement; motion correction; myocardial perfusion; nonrigid image registration; quantitative perfusion