A practical guideline for T1 reconstruction from various flip angles in MRI. Issue 4 (December 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sandmann, Constantin; Hodneland, Erlend; Modersitzki, Jan
• Other Names: Chen Ke guest-editor.; Lai Choi-Hong guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Journal of algorithms & computational technology. Volume 10:Issue 4(2016)
• Page Start: 213
• Page End: 223
• Publication Date: 2016-12
• Subjects: T1 estimation -- variable flip angles -- sensitivity -- spatial stabilization; Computer algorithms -- Periodicals; Numerical calculations -- Periodicals; Computer algorithms; Numerical calculations; Periodicals; 518.1
• DOI: 10.1177/1748301816656288
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1748-3018

Abstract

A fast and robust method for T 1 estimation in MRI is the so-called variable flip angle technique. We introduce a novel family of T 1 reconstruction methods from data acquired with various flip angles and propose a family member which combines the robustness of a nonlinear- with the computational advantages of a linear reconstruction. The constructed family contains the most common approaches for T 1 estimation, namely a linear and a nonlinear approach. A general sensitivity analysis for arbitrary members of the family is established. Advantages of the optimized reconstruction are demonstrated on phantom- as well as real data, showing improvements of up to 24% as compared with the linear method. As a further means to stabilize T 1 estimation, spatial stabilization methods are compared. We demonstrate on phantom and on real data that improved results can be obtained if not only T 1 but also a second unknown M 0 in the reconstruction is stabilized.