Premium
An optimal acquisition and post‐processing pipeline for hybrid IVIM‐DKI in head and neck
Author(s) -
Sijtsema Nienke D.,
Petit Steven F.,
Poot Dirk H. J.,
Verduijn Gerda M.,
Lugt Aad,
Hoogeman Mischa S.,
HernandezTamames Juan A.
Publication year - 2021
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.28461
Subject(s) - intravoxel incoherent motion , kurtosis , repeatability , artifact (error) , weighting , coefficient of variation , mathematics , nuclear medicine , voxel , computer science , effective diffusion coefficient , medicine , artificial intelligence , statistics , magnetic resonance imaging , radiology
Purpose To optimize the diffusion‐weighting b values and postprocessing pipeline for hybrid intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion kurtosis imaging in the head and neck region. Methods Optimized diffusion‐weighting b value sets ranging between 5 and 30 b values were constructed by optimizing the Cramér‐Rao lower bound of the hybrid intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion kurtosis imaging model. With this model, the perfusion fraction, pseudodiffusion coefficient, diffusion coefficient, and kurtosis were estimated. Sixteen volunteers were scanned with a reference b value set and 3 repeats of the optimized sets, of which 1 with volunteers swallowing on purpose. The effects of (1) b value optimization and number of b values, (2) registration type (none vs. intervolume vs. intra‐ and intervolume registration), and (3) manual swallowing artifact rejection on the parameter precision were assessed. Results The SD was higher in the reference set for perfusion fraction, diffusion coefficient, and kurtosis by a factor of 1.7, 1.5, and 2.3 compared to the optimized set, respectively. A smaller SD (factor 0.7) was seen in pseudodiffusion coefficient. The sets containing 15, 20, and 30 b values had comparable repeatability in all parameters, except pseudodiffusion coefficient, for which set size 30 was worse. Equal repeatability for the registration approaches was seen in all parameters of interest. Swallowing artifact rejection removed the bias when present. Conclusion To achieve optimal hybrid intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion kurtosis imaging in the head and neck region, b value optimization and swallowing artifact image rejection are beneficial. The optimized set of 15 b values yielded the optimal protocol efficiency, with a precision comparable to larger b value sets and a 50% reduction in scan time.