Performance Comparison of Compressed Sensing Algorithms for Accelerating T1ρ Mapping of Human Brain

Background 3D‐T1ρ mapping is useful to quantify various neurologic disorders, but data are currently time‐consuming to acquire. Purpose To compare the performance of five compressed sensing (CS) algorithms—spatiotemporal finite differences (STFD), exponential dictionary (EXP), 3D‐wavelet transform (WAV), low‐rank (LOW) and low‐rank plus sparse model with spatial finite differences (L + S SFD)—for 3D‐T1ρ mapping of the human brain with acceleration factors (AFs) of 2, 5, and 10. Study Type Retrospective. Subjects Eight healthy volunteers underwent T1ρ imaging of the whole brain. Field Strength/Sequence The sequence was fully sampled 3D Cartesian ultrafast gradient echo sequence with a customized T1ρ preparation module on a clinical 3T scanner. Assessment The fully sampled data was undersampled by factors of 2, 5, and 10 and reconstructed with the five CS algorithms. Image reconstruction quality was evaluated and compared to the SENSE reconstruction of the fully sampled data (reference) and T1ρ estimation errors were assessed as a function of AF. Statistical Tests Normalized root mean squared errors (nRMSE) and median normalized absolute deviation (MNAD) errors were calculated to compare image reconstruction errors and T1ρ estimation errors, respectively. Linear regression plots, Bland–Altman plots, and Pearson correlation coefficients (CC) are shown. Results For image reconstruction quality, at AF = 2, EXP transforms had the lowest mRMSE (1.56%). At higher AF values, STFD performed better, with the smallest errors (3.16% at AF = 5, 4.32% at AF = 10). For whole‐brain quantitative T1ρ mapping, at AF = 2, EXP performed best (MNAD error = 1.62%). At higher AF values (AF = 5, 10), the STFD technique had the least errors (2.96% at AF = 5, 4.24% at AF = 10) and the smallest variance from the reference T1ρ estimates. Data Conclusion This study demonstrates the use of different CS algorithms that may be useful in reducing the scan time required to perform volumetric T1ρ mapping of the brain. Level of Evidence 2. Technical Efficacy Stage 1.