Rapid acquisition of helium-3 and proton three-dimensional image sets of the human lung in a single breath-hold using compressed sensing

Magn Reson Med. 2015 Oct;74(4):1110-5. doi: 10.1002/mrm.25499. Epub 2014 Oct 21.

Abstract

Purpose: To develop and validate a method for acquiring helium-3 ((3) He) and proton ((1) H) three-dimensional (3D) image sets of the human lung with isotropic spatial resolution within a 10-s breath-hold by using compressed sensing (CS) acceleration, and to assess the fidelity of undersampled images compared with fully sampled images.

Methods: The undersampling scheme for CS acceleration was optimized and tested using (3) He ventilation data. Rapid 3D acquisition of both (3) He and (1) H data during one breath-hold was then implemented, based on a balanced steady-state free-precession pulse sequence, by random undersampling of k-space with reconstruction by means of minimizing the L1 norm and total variance. CS-reconstruction fidelity was evaluated quantitatively by comparing fully sampled and retrospectively undersampled image sets.

Results: Helium-3 and (1) H 3D image sets of the lung with isotropic 3.9-mm resolution were acquired during a single breath-hold in 12 s and 8 s using acceleration factors of 2 and 3, respectively. Comparison of fully sampled and retrospectively undersampled (3) He and (1) H images yielded mean absolute errors <10% and structural similarity indices >0.9.

Conclusion: By randomly undersampling k-space and using CS reconstruction, high-quality (3) He and (1) H 3D image sets with isotropic 3.9-mm resolution can be acquired within an 8-s breath-hold.

Keywords: compressed sensing; hyperpolarized gas; pulmonary imaging.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Breath Holding*
  • Cystic Fibrosis
  • Female
  • Helium / administration & dosage
  • Helium / chemistry
  • Humans
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional / methods*
  • Lung / physiology*
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods*
  • Male
  • Protons*
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Protons
  • Helium