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Parameter estimation approach to banding artifact reduction in balanced steady-state free precession

Björk, Marcus ; Ingle, R. Reeve ; Gudmundson, Erik LU ; Stoica, Petre ; Nishimura, Dwight G. and Barral, Joelle K. (2014) In Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 72(3). p.880-892
Abstract
Purpose: The balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) pulse sequence has shown to be of great interest due to its high signal-to-noise ratio efficiency. However, bSSFP images often suffer from banding artifacts due to off-resonance effects, which we aim to minimize in this paper.

Methods: We present a general and fast two-step algorithm for 1) estimating the unknowns in the bSSFP signal model from multiple phase-cycled acquisitions, and 2) reconstructing band-free images. The first step, Linearization for Off-Resonance Estimation (LORE), solves the nonlinear problem approximately by a robust linear approach. The second step applies a Gauss-Newton algorithm, initialized by LORE, to minimize the nonlinear least squares... (More)
Purpose: The balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) pulse sequence has shown to be of great interest due to its high signal-to-noise ratio efficiency. However, bSSFP images often suffer from banding artifacts due to off-resonance effects, which we aim to minimize in this paper.

Methods: We present a general and fast two-step algorithm for 1) estimating the unknowns in the bSSFP signal model from multiple phase-cycled acquisitions, and 2) reconstructing band-free images. The first step, Linearization for Off-Resonance Estimation (LORE), solves the nonlinear problem approximately by a robust linear approach. The second step applies a Gauss-Newton algorithm, initialized by LORE, to minimize the nonlinear least squares criterion. We name the full algorithm LORE-GN.

Results: We derive the Cramér-Rao bound (CRB), a theoretical lower bound of the variance for any unbiased estimator, and show that LORE-GN is statistically efficient. Furthermore, we show that simultaneous estimation of T1 and T2 from phase-cycled bSSFP is difficult, since the CRB is high at common SNR. Using simulated, phantom, and in vivo data, we illustrate the band-reduction capabilities of LORE-GN compared to other techniques, such as sum-of-squares.

Conclusion: Using LORE-GN we can successfully minimize banding artifacts in bSSFP. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
off-resonance, bSSFP, Parameter estimation, banding artifacts, LORE
in
Magnetic Resonance in Medicine
volume
72
issue
3
pages
880 - 892
publisher
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
external identifiers
  • wos:000340552700033
  • scopus:85027937296
ISSN
1522-2594
DOI
10.1002/mrm.24986
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
fd20df55-fdfc-456b-95af-f919530724bb (old id 4194953)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:56:51
date last changed
2022-01-26 03:57:15
@article{fd20df55-fdfc-456b-95af-f919530724bb,
  abstract     = {{Purpose: The balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) pulse sequence has shown to be of great interest due to its high signal-to-noise ratio efficiency. However, bSSFP images often suffer from banding artifacts due to off-resonance effects, which we aim to minimize in this paper.<br/><br>
Methods: We present a general and fast two-step algorithm for 1) estimating the unknowns in the bSSFP signal model from multiple phase-cycled acquisitions, and 2) reconstructing band-free images. The first step, Linearization for Off-Resonance Estimation (LORE), solves the nonlinear problem approximately by a robust linear approach. The second step applies a Gauss-Newton algorithm, initialized by LORE, to minimize the nonlinear least squares criterion. We name the full algorithm LORE-GN.<br/><br>
Results: We derive the Cramér-Rao bound (CRB), a theoretical lower bound of the variance for any unbiased estimator, and show that LORE-GN is statistically efficient. Furthermore, we show that simultaneous estimation of T1 and T2 from phase-cycled bSSFP is difficult, since the CRB is high at common SNR. Using simulated, phantom, and in vivo data, we illustrate the band-reduction capabilities of LORE-GN compared to other techniques, such as sum-of-squares.<br/><br>
Conclusion: Using LORE-GN we can successfully minimize banding artifacts in bSSFP.}},
  author       = {{Björk, Marcus and Ingle, R. Reeve and Gudmundson, Erik and Stoica, Petre and Nishimura, Dwight G. and Barral, Joelle K.}},
  issn         = {{1522-2594}},
  keywords     = {{off-resonance; bSSFP; Parameter estimation; banding artifacts; LORE}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{880--892}},
  publisher    = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
  series       = {{Magnetic Resonance in Medicine}},
  title        = {{Parameter estimation approach to banding artifact reduction in balanced steady-state free precession}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mrm.24986}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/mrm.24986}},
  volume       = {{72}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}