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This is a Quantitative Study study.

October 16, 2025Open Access

Optimization of pulsed saturation transfer MR fingerprinting (ST MRF) acquisition using the Cram\'er-Rao bound and sequential quadratic programming

Key Points

The optimization approach yielded an 8% lower NRMSE compared to baseline protocols, highlighting its effectiveness.
Validation involved L-arginine phantoms and healthy human volunteers, providing credible in vivo results.
Using the Cramér-Rao bound for variance assessment enabled a robust optimization process for imaging acquisition.
The method significantly enhances imaging accuracy, with implications for faster and more reliable MR fingerprinting.

Abstract

Purpose: To develop a method for optimizing pulsed saturation transfer MR fingerprinting (ST MRF) acquisition. Methods: The Cram\'er-Rao bound (CRB) for variance assessment was employed on Bloch-McConnell-based simulated signals, followed by a numerical sequential quadratic programming optimization and basin-hopping avoidance of local minima. Validation was performed using L-arginine phantoms and healthy human volunteers (n=4) at 3T while restricting the scan time to be less than 40 s. Results: The proposed optimization approach resulted in a significantly improved agreement with reference gold standard values in vivo, compared to baseline non-optimized protocols (8\% lower NRMSE, 7\% higher SSIM, and 15\% higher Pearson's r value, p<0. 001). Conclusion: The combination of the CRB with sequential quadratic programming and a rapid Bloch-McConnell simulator offers a means for optimizing and accelerating pulsed CEST and semisolid magnetization transfer (MT) MRF acquisition.

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Vladimirov et al. (Fri,) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/68f147cc724575985c3fcfd2 https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2504.03298

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