Implicit neural representation for free-breathing MR fingerprinting (INR-MRF): co-registered 3D whole-liver water T1, water T2, proton density fat fraction, and R2* mapping

Purpose: To develop an MRI technique for free-breathing 3D whole-liver quantification of water T1, water T2, proton density fat fraction (PDFF), R2*. Methods: An Eight-echo spoiled gradient echo pulse sequence with spiral readout was developed by interleaving inversion recovery and T2 magnetization preparation. We propose a neural network based on a 4D and a 3D implicit neural representation (INR) which simultaneously learns the motion deformation fields and the static reference frame MRI subspace images respectively. Water and fat singular images were separated during network training, with no need of performing retrospective water-fat separation. T1, T2, R2* and proton density fat fraction (PDFF) produced by the proposed method were validated in vivo on 10 healthy subjects, using quantitative maps generated from conventional scans as reference. Results: Our results showed minimal bias and narrow 95% limits of agreement on T1, T2, R2* and PDFF values in the liver compared to conventional breath-holding scans. Conclusions: INR-MRF enabled co-registered 3D whole liver T1, T2, R2* and PDFF mapping in a single free-breathing scan.

MRI quantification of liver fibrosis using diamagnetic susceptibility: An ex-vivo feasibility study

In chronic liver disease, liver fibrosis develops as excessive deposition of extracellular matrix macromolecules, predominantly collagens, progressively form fibrous scars that disrupt the hepatic architecture, and fibrosis, iron, and fat are interrelated. Fibrosis is the best predictor of morbidity and mortality in chronic liver disease but liver biopsy, the reference method for diagnosis and staging, is invasive and limited by sampling and interobserver variability and risks of complications. The overall objective of this study was to develop a new non-invasive method to quantify fibrosis using diamagnetic susceptibility sources with histology validation in ex vivo liver explants.