A novel phase‐unwrapping method based on pixel clustering and local surface fitting with application to Dixon water–fat MRI

Purpose To develop and evaluate a novel 2D phase‐unwrapping method that works robustly in the presence of severe noise, rapid phase changes, and disconnected regions. Theory and Methods The MR phase map usually varies rapidly in regions adjacent to wraps. In contrast, the phasors can vary slowly, especially in regions distant from tissue boundaries. Based on this observation, this paper develops a phase‐unwrapping method by using a pixel clustering and local surface fitting (CLOSE) approach to exploit different local variation characteristics between the phase and phasor data. The CLOSE approach classifies pixels into easy‐to‐unwrap blocks and difficult‐to‐unwrap residual pixels first, and then sequentially performs intrablock, interblock, and residual‐pixel phase unwrapping by a region‐growing surface‐fitting method. The CLOSE method was evaluated on simulation and in vivo water–fat Dixon data, and was compared with phase region expanding labeler for unwrapping discrete estimates (PRELUDE). Results In the simulation experiment, the mean error ratio by CLOSE was less than 1.50%, even in areas with signal‐to‐noise ratio equal to 0.5, phase changes larger than π, and disconnected regions. For 350 in vivo knee and ankle images, the water–fat swap ratio of CLOSE was 4.29%, whereas that of PRELUDE was 25.71%. Conclusions The CLOSE approach can correctly unwrap phase with high robustness, and benefit MRI applications that require phase unwrapping. Magn Reson Med 79:515–528, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.