Multi-Contrast MR Imaging Acceleration: Transform 2D Low-Resolution into High-Resolution 3D Images with Auxiliary Contrast in 3D Acquisition

Motivation: High-resolution 3D MR imaging provides superior diagnostic quality compared to 2D scans, but its prolonged acquisition time limits its clinical adoption for all contrast weightings. Goal(s): Develop a method that enhances the resolution of 2D FLAIR and T2 MR scans to similar levels as in 3D acquisitions. Approach: Leveraging auxiliary high-resolution 3D images, we developed a model with a pre-trained masked autoencoder and residual convolutional decoder to enhance resolution for 2D MR scans. Results: The developed method produces 3D images from 2D scans with similar quality comparable to 3D acquisitions, which can be 5- to 12-fold faster, enabling efficient multi-contrast MRI acceleration. Impact: The developed approach allows multi-contrast brain low-resolution 2D scans with an auxiliary high-resolution 3D reference scan to produce multi-contrast high-resolution 3D images. Clinical evaluation on synthesized 3D brain images and extension to other applications may be worth further investigation.