Accelerating Magnetic Resonance T1\r{ho} Mapping Using Simultaneously Spatial Patch-based and Parametric Group-based Low-rank Tensors (SMART)

TL;DR

This paper introduces SMART, a novel method combining spatial patch-based and parametric group-based low-rank tensors to significantly accelerate MR T1 mapping, achieving high-quality reconstructions from highly undersampled data.

Contribution

The study presents a new joint low-rank tensor approach that leverages local redundancies and exponential signal similarities for faster MR T1 mapping.

Findings

Achieves 11.7-fold and 13.21-fold acceleration in 2D and 3D imaging.

Produces more accurate images and maps than existing methods.

Demonstrates effectiveness in in vivo brain datasets.

Abstract

Quantitative magnetic resonance (MR) T1\r{ho} mapping is a promising approach for characterizing intrinsic tissue-dependent information. However, long scan time significantly hinders its widespread applications. Recently, low-rank tensor has been employed and demonstrated good performance in accelerating MR T1\r{ho} mapping. In this study, we propose a novel method that uses spatial patch-based and parametric group-based low rank tensors simultaneously (SMART) to reconstruct images from highly undersampled k-space data. The spatial patch-based low-rank tensor exploits the high local and nonlocal redundancies and similarities between the contrast images in T1\r{ho} mapping. The parametric group based low-rank tensor, which integrates similar exponential behavior of the image signals, is jointly used to enforce the multidimensional low-rankness in the reconstruction process. In vivo brain datasets were used to demonstrate the validity of the proposed method. Experimental results have demonstrated that the proposed method achieves 11.7-fold and 13.21-fold accelerations in two-dimensional and three-dimensional acquisitions, respectively, with more accurate reconstructed images and maps than several state-of-the-art methods. Prospective reconstruction results further demonstrate the capability of the SMART method in accelerating MR T1\r{ho} imaging.