Compressed Quantitative MRI

The proposed research will provide the first proof-of-principle for a new family of Compressed Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging (CQ-MRI), able to rapidly acquire a multitude of physical parameter maps for the imaged tissue from a single scan.

MRI is the pre-eminent imaging modality in clinical medicine and neuroscience, providing valuable anatomical and diagnostic information. However, the vast majority of MR imaging is essentially qualitative in nature providing a `picture' of the tissue while not directly measuring its physical parameters. In contrast, quantitative MRI aims to measure properties that are intrinsic to the tissue type and independent of the scanner and scanning protocol. Unfortunately, due to excessively long scan times, Quantitative MRI is not usually included in standard protocols.

The proposed research is based on a combination of a new acquisition philosophy for Quantitative MRI, called Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting, and recent advances in model-based compressed sensing theory to enable rapid simultaneous acquisition of the multiple parameter maps.

The ultimate goal of the research will be to produce a full CQ-MRI scan capability with a scan time not substantially longer than is currently needed for a standard MRI scan.