Abstract
We develop a framework for calculating clinically-viable diffusion MRI (dMRI) protocols for anisotropic IVIM modelling. The proposed multi-stage framework combines previous approaches to dMRI protocol optimisation: first optimising b-values by minimizing Cramer-Rao lower bounds on parameter variances, and subsequently optimising gradient directions jointly to provide maximum angular coverage across all shells. This removes unnecessary measurements of closely spaced b-values with the same gradient directions, which encode very similar information, and hence reduces the total number of dMRI measurements. We applied the framework to establish an organ-specific, data-driven, set of optimised b-values and gradient directions for dMRI of the placenta. The optimised protocol leads to higher contrast-to-noise ratios in parameter maps compared to a naive protocol of comparable scan time. Applying this framework in other organs has the potential to reduce scanning times required for anisotropic IVIM modelling.
Original language | English |
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Pages | 251-263 |
Number of pages | 13 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 3 May 2019 |
Event | International Workshop on Computational Diffusion MRI, CDMRI 2018 held with International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention, MICCAI 2018 - Granada, Spain Duration: 20 Sept 2018 → 20 Sept 2018 |
Conference
Conference | International Workshop on Computational Diffusion MRI, CDMRI 2018 held with International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention, MICCAI 2018 |
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Country/Territory | Spain |
City | Granada |
Period | 20/09/2018 → 20/09/2018 |
Keywords
- Anisotropic IVIM
- Cramer-Rao lower bound
- Diffusion MRI
- Experimental design
- IVIM
- Microstructural modelling
- Placenta