Invention:
This technology provides techniques to a fast and accurate parameter estimation in the presence of partial volume from MRI data acquired. A specific technique application for liver lesion imaging is provided in this invention. The inventors employ Joint Bi-Exponential Fitting (JBF) algorithm in context of T2 estimation for small structure determination within background, overcoming the partial volume effect.
Background:
While MRI technical improvements have transformed this modality for clinical application over the past 15 years, there remains a number of pressing technical requirements for a more extensive use in clinical applications. A major aim in MRI development is the need to achieve shorter acquisition times, particularly for imaging tissues that move (as a result from physiological effects such as respiration) or in types of imaging where obtaining the required information involves long acquisition times rendering the method impractical under clinical conditions. The goal of quantitative imaging modalities is to estimate a parameter that is associated with a specific property of the sample being imaged. Because samples of clinical or industrial importance are typically made up of more than one component, parameter estimation typically involves algorithms that can handle multi-component data. Conventional multiple component parameter fitting algorithms, however, are affected by the level of noise in the measurement data set yielding large uncertainties of the estimated parameter.
Advantages:
- Yields accurate estimates with less data than conventional fitting methods
- Allows for better observation of focal liver lesions and liver parenchyma
Applications:
- Specific technique application for liver lesion imaging
- Liver imaging
- Proposed technique could have significance for applications including tumor characterization
Status: issued patents #10,393,839 and #10,782,373.
