Simultaneous Unwrapping Phase and Error Recovery from Inhomogeneity (SUPER) for Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping of the Human Brain
10.13104/imri.2018.22.1.37
- Author:
Young Joong YANG
1
;
Jong Hyun YOON
;
Hyun Man BAEK
;
Chang Beom AHN
Author Information
1. Department of Electrical Engineering, Kwangwoon University, Seoul, Korea. cbahn@kw.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Inhomogeneity;
Magnetic susceptibility;
Phase unwrapping;
Quantitative susceptibility mapping
- MeSH:
Brain;
Frontal Lobe;
Humans;
Magnetic Resonance Imaging;
Methods;
Volunteers
- From:Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
2018;22(1):37-49
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
PURPOSE: The effect of global inhomogeneity on quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) was investigated. A technique referred to as Simultaneous Unwrapping Phase with Error Recovery from inhomogeneity (SUPER) is suggested as a preprocessing to QSM to remove global field inhomogeneity-induced phase by polynomial fitting. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The effect of global inhomogeneity on QSM was investigated by numerical simulations. Three types of global inhomogeneity were added to the tissue susceptibility phase, and the root mean square error (RMSE) in the susceptibility map was evaluated. In-vivo QSM imaging with volunteers was carried out for 3.0T and 7.0T MRI systems to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed method. RESULTS: The SUPER technique removed harmonic and non-harmonic global phases. Previously only the harmonic phase was removed by the background phase removal method. The global phase contained a non-harmonic phase due to various experimental and physiological causes, which degraded a susceptibility map. The RMSE in the susceptibility map increased under the influence of global inhomogeneity; while the error was consistent, irrespective of the global inhomogeneity, if the inhomogeneity was corrected by the SUPER technique. In-vivo QSM imaging with volunteers at 3.0T and 7.0T MRI systems showed better definition in small vascular structures and reduced fluctuation and non-uniformity in the frontal lobes, where field inhomogeneity was more severe. CONCLUSION: Correcting global inhomogeneity using the SUPER technique is an effective way to obtain an accurate susceptibility map on QSM method. Since the susceptibility variations are small quantities in the brain tissue, correction of the inhomogeneity is an essential element for obtaining an accurate QSM.
