Automatic assessment of human gastric motility and emptying from dynamic 3D magnetic resonance imaging. Issue 1 (24th August 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lu, Kun‐Han; Liu, Zhongming; Jaffey, Deborah; Wo, John M.; Mosier, Kristine M.; Cao, Jiayue; Wang, Xiaokai; Powley, Terry L.
• Is Part Of: Neurogastroenterology & motility. Volume 34:Issue 1(2022)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2021-08-24
• Subjects: gastric emptying -- gastric motility -- image segmentation -- luminal wall motion analysis -- magnetic resonance imaging -- respiratory motion correction; Gastrointestinal system -- Motility -- Periodicals; Gastrointestinal system -- Innervation -- Periodicals; 616.33
• DOI: 10.1111/nmo.14239
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1350-1925

Abstract

Abstract: Background: Time‐sequenced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the stomach is an emerging technique for non‐invasive assessment of gastric emptying and motility. However, an automated and systematic image processing pipeline for analyzing dynamic 3D (ie, 4D) gastric MRI data has not been established. This study uses an MRI protocol for imaging the stomach with high spatiotemporal resolution and provides a pipeline for assessing gastric emptying and motility. Methods: Diet contrast‐enhanced MRI images were acquired from seventeen healthy humans after they consumed a naturalistic contrast meal. An automated image processing pipeline was developed to correct for respiratory motion, to segment and compartmentalize the lumen‐enhanced stomach, to quantify total gastric and compartmental emptying, and to compute and visualize gastric motility on the luminal surface of the stomach. Key Results: The gastric segmentation reached an accuracy of 91.10 ± 0.43% with the Type‐I error and Type‐II error being 0.11 ± 0.01% and 0.22 ± 0.01%, respectively. Gastric volume decreased 34.64 ± 2.8% over 1 h where the emptying followed a linear‐exponential pattern. The gastric motility showed peristaltic patterns with a median = 4 wave fronts (range 3–6) and a mean frequency of 3.09 ± 0.07 cycles per minute. Further, the contractile amplitude was stronger in the antrum than in the corpus (antrum vs. corpus: 5.18 ± 0.24 vs. 3.30 ± 0.16 mm; p < 0.001). Conclusions & Inferences: Our analysis pipeline can process dynamic 3D MRI images and produce personalized profiles of gastric motility and emptying. It will facilitate the application of MRI for monitoring gastric dynamics in research and clinical settings. Abstract : Automatic MRI assessment of human gastric motility and emptying: We present a robust methodology for using high‐resolution contrast‐enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to non‐invasively and quantitatively assess gastric emptying and motility in healthy humans. Our algorithms collect 3D MRI scans in real time and provide a high‐resolution mapping of motility patterns onto the 3D‐reconstructed GI tract.