Three-Dimensional Diffusion-Weighted Multi-Slab MRI With Slice Profile Compensation Using Deep Energy Model

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel deep energy model-based method for 3D diffusion-weighted MRI that compensates for slice profile artifacts, significantly enhancing image quality and anatomical accuracy.

Contribution

It presents a regularized slab profile encoding method within a Plug-and-Play ADMM framework, incorporating multi-scale energy regularization for improved 3D diffusion MRI reconstruction.

Findings

Significant image quality improvement over non-regularized methods

Enhanced robustness and efficiency in high-resolution 3D diffusion MRI

Potential for clearer and more reliable anatomical imaging

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) multi-slab acquisition is a technique frequently employed in high-resolution diffusion-weighted MRI in order to achieve the best signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) efficiency. However, this technique is limited by slab boundary artifacts that cause intensity fluctuations and aliasing between slabs which reduces the accuracy of anatomical imaging. Addressing this issue is crucial for advancing diffusion MRI quality and making high-resolution imaging more feasible for clinical and research applications. In this work, we propose a regularized slab profile encoding (PEN) method within a Plug-and-Play ADMM framework, incorporating multi-scale energy (MuSE) regularization to effectively improve the slab combined reconstruction. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method significantly improves image quality compared to non-regularized and TV-regularized PEN approaches. The regularized PEN framework provides a more robust and efficient solution for high-resolution 3D diffusion MRI, potentially enabling clearer, more reliable anatomical imaging across various applications.