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Super‐resolution methods in MRI: Can they improve the trade‐off between resolution, signal‐to‐noise ratio, and acquisition time?
Author(s) -
Plenge Esben,
Poot Dirk H. J.,
Bernsen Monique,
Kotek Gyula,
Houston Gavin,
Wielopolski Piotr,
van der Weerd Louise,
Niessen Wiro J.,
Meijering Erik
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
magnetic resonance in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.696
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1522-2594
pISSN - 0740-3194
DOI - 10.1002/mrm.24187
Subject(s) - imaging phantom , signal to noise ratio (imaging) , resolution (logic) , computer science , noise (video) , image resolution , data acquisition , signal (programming language) , iterative reconstruction , magnetic resonance imaging , artificial intelligence , projection (relational algebra) , computer vision , algorithm , optics , physics , image (mathematics) , telecommunications , medicine , radiology , programming language , operating system
Abstract Improving the resolution in magnetic resonance imaging comes at the cost of either lower signal‐to‐noise ratio, longer acquisition time or both. This study investigates whether so‐called super‐resolution reconstruction methods can increase the resolution in the slice selection direction and, as such, are a viable alternative to direct high‐resolution acquisition in terms of the signal‐to‐noise ratio and acquisition time trade‐offs. The performance of six super‐resolution reconstruction methods and direct high‐resolution acquisitions was compared with respect to these trade‐offs. The methods are based on iterative back‐projection, algebraic reconstruction, and regularized least squares. The algorithms were applied to low‐resolution data sets within which the images were rotated relative to each other. Quantitative experiments involved a computational phantom and a physical phantom containing structures of known dimensions. To visually validate the quantitative evaluations, qualitative experiments were performed, in which images of three different subjects (a phantom, an ex vivo rat knee, and a postmortem mouse) were acquired with different magnetic resonance imaging scanners. The results show that super‐resolution reconstruction can indeed improve the resolution, signal‐to‐noise ratio and acquisition time trade‐offs compared with direct high‐resolution acquisition. Magn Reson Med, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.