Quantitative MRI: Absolute T1, T2 and Proton Density Parameters from Deep Learning

Abstract: Quantitative MRI is highly desirable in terms of intrinsic tissue parameters such as T1, T2 and proton density. This approach promises to minimize diagnostic variability and differentiate normal and pathological tissues by comparing tissue parameters to the normal ranges. Also, absolute quantification can help segment MRI tissue images with better accuracy compared to traditional qualitative segmentation methods. Currently, there are several methods proposed to quantify tissue parameters; however, all of them require excessive scan time and thus are difficult to be applied in clinical applications. In this paper, we propose a novel machine learning approach for MRI quantification, which can dramatically decrease the scan time and improve image quality.