Super-resolution reconstruction of whole-body MRI mouse data: An interactive approach

Abstract

Super-resolution reconstruction (SRR) is a post-acquisition method for producing a high-resolution (HR) image from a set of lowresolution (LR) images. However, for large volumes of data, this technique is computationally very demanding and time consuming. In this study we focus on the specific case of whole-body mouse data and present a novel, integrated, end-to-end approach to overcome this problem. We combine articulated atlas-based segmentation and planar reformation techniques with state-of-the-art in SRR to produce high resolution, interactively selected, localized isotropic volumes-of-interest in whole-body mouse MRI. With this method we overcome time and memory related limitations when applying the SRR algorithm to the entire dataset, enabling interactive visualization and exploration of anatomical structures of interest in whole-body MRI mouse data on a normal desktop PC.

Interactive Local Super-Resolution Reconstruction of Whole-Body MRI Mouse Data: A Pilot Study with Applications to Bone and Kidney Metastases

“…whole-body mouse MRI data. Together with the preliminary results first published in [9] , we have provided a global solution to three possible scenarios that takes into account the availability of complementary data: ( i ) only MRI is available [9] , ( ii ) MRI+BLI is available, ( iii ) MRI+CT+BLI is available. From first to last scenario, the proposed approach decreases in the required level of user interaction to segment the data into possible VOIs.…”

“…The slice stack was acquired at 24 angles with uniform increments of 180°/24 = 7.5° around the phase encoding direction. First results obtained using 24 low-resolution images were published in [9] . In this study, we performed SRR on subsets of two and four low-resolution images.…”

“…In this study, we propose a novel approach to overcome the computational issues of whole-body SRR without sacrificing reconstruction quality. By integrating state-of-the-art methods from the areas of articulated atlas-based segmentation of whole-body small animal data [5] – [9] , planar reformation [10] , and SRR in MRI [3] , [11] , we arrive at a novel localized approach to SRR that enables interactive global-to-local exploration of e.g. whole-body mouse MRI data while being computationally efficient.…”

Small‐animal, whole‐body imaging with metamaterial‐inspired RF coil

“…mice), these include angiography, 1 fat quantification, 2 contrast agent or drug delivery [3][4][5] and more. 6 Conventionally, such images are obtained through either the stitching of multiple fields of view (FoVs) sequentially acquired with a small surface coil or with a single volume coil (usually a birdcage coil). Both approaches have their own benefits and drawbacks.…”

“…Small animal imaging is crucial to a majority of preclinical research. A number of applications in preclinical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) requires full body images of small animals (e.g., mice) to be acquired, for example angiography 1 , fat quantification 2 , contrast agent or drug delivery [3][4][5] and more 6 . Conventionally, such images are obtained either through stitching of multiple fields of view (FoV) sequentially acquired with small surface coil or with a single volume coil (usually, a birdcage coil).…”