Accelerated MR cell size imaging through parallel acquisition technique (PAT) and simultaneous multi-slice (SMS) with local principal component analysis (LPCA) enhancement

Tianxiong Wu; Jiayu Sun; Zhihao Wang; Jia Tan; Xianqing Tang; Deng Xiong; Thorsten Feiweier; Qiyong Gong; Haoyang Xing; Min Wu

doi:10.1016/j.mri.2025.110327

Accelerated MR cell size imaging through parallel acquisition technique (PAT) and simultaneous multi-slice (SMS) with local principal component analysis (LPCA) enhancement

Magn Reson Imaging. 2025 Jan 16:110327. doi: 10.1016/j.mri.2025.110327. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Tianxiong Wu¹, Jiayu Sun², Zhihao Wang³, Jia Tan⁴, Xianqing Tang⁵, Deng Xiong⁶, Thorsten Feiweier⁷, Qiyong Gong⁸, Haoyang Xing⁹, Min Wu¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ College of Physics, Sichuan University, No.24 South Section 1, 1(st) Ring Road, Chengdu, Sichuan 610045, China; Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, No.37 Guo Xue Alley, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China.
² Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, No.37 Guo Xue Alley, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China.
³ Department of Neurosurgery, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, No.37 Guo Xue Alley, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China.
⁴ Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, No.37 Guo Xue Alley, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁵ West China Xiamen Hospital of Sichuan University, No.699 Jinyuan West Road, Xiamen, Fujian 361022, China.
⁶ Computer Science Department/Mechanical Engineering Department, Stevens Institute of Technology, 1 Castle Point Terrace, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁷ Neurology Applications Development, Siemens Healthcare GmbH, Postfach 3260, Erlangen 91050, Germany. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁸ Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, No.37 Guo Xue Alley, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China; Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, No.37 Guo Xue Alley, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China; West China Xiamen Hospital of Sichuan University, No.699 Jinyuan West Road, Xiamen, Fujian 361022, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁹ College of Physics, Sichuan University, No.24 South Section 1, 1(st) Ring Road, Chengdu, Sichuan 610045, China; Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, No.37 Guo Xue Alley, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China; Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, No.37 Guo Xue Alley, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China; West China Xiamen Hospital of Sichuan University, No.699 Jinyuan West Road, Xiamen, Fujian 361022, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹⁰ Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, No.37 Guo Xue Alley, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 39826593
DOI: 10.1016/j.mri.2025.110327

Abstract

Microstructural parameters are essential in tumor research, aiding in the understanding tumor pathogenesis, grading, and therapeutic efficacy. The imaging microstructural parameters using limited spectrally edited diffusion (IMPULSED) model is the most widely used MR cell size imaging technique, demonstrating success in measuring microstructural parameters of solid tumors in vivo. However, its clinical application is limited by the longer scan times required for both pulsed gradient spin-echo (PGSE) and multiple oscillating gradient spin-echo (OGSE) acquisitions across a range of b-values, which can be burdensome for patients and disrupt clinical workflows. In this work, we propose and evaluate an accelerating method that integrates parallel acquisition technique (PAT) and simultaneous multi-slice (SMS) with local principal component analysis (LPCA) denoising to reduce scan times while maintaining image quality in MR cell size imaging. PGSE and OGSE (25 Hz, 50 Hz) images were acquired using P2S2 (PAT2-SMS2), P2S3 (PAT2-SMS3), and P3S3 (PAT3-SMS3) configurations, incorporating LPCA denoising, and compared to standard P2 (PAT2-SMS1) in healthy volunteers and brain tumor patients at 3 T. Additionally, clinical feasibility was further assessed through qualitative and quantitative evaluations. Qualitative assessment, conducted by two radiologists using a 5-point Likert scale, and quantitative analysis, including noise estimation, apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) calculation, and estimation of microstructural parameters-cell diameter (Dmean), intracellular volume fraction (Vin), and extracellular diffusivity (Dex), were performed. Overall, the integration of PAT and SMS techniques reduces acquisition time by approximately 60 % compared to standard P2 acceleration, while maintaining comparable image quality and structural fidelity with LPCA denoising.

Keywords: Diffusion-weighted imaging; IMPULSED; MRI; Microstructural parameters; Oscillating gradient; Parallel imaging; Simultaneous multi-slice.