Correlation imaging for multiscan MRI with parallel data acquisition

A new approach to high-speed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that uses all the data acquired in a multiscan imaging session is presented. This approach accelerates MRI data acquisition by statistically estimating correlation functions from images with different contrast and/or resolution. In multiscan MRI with parallel data acquisition, the estimation of correlation functions is dynamically improved as imaging proceeds. This allows imaging acceleration factors to be increased in subsequent scans, thereby reducing the total time of a multiscan MRI protocol. Furthermore, the correlation function estimates bring information about both coil sensitivity and anatomical structure into image reconstruction, thereby offering the ability to speed up MRI beyond the parallel imaging acceleration limit posed by a coil array alone. In this study, the feasibility of correlation imaging is demonstrated experimentally using brain and spine imaging protocols. The ability of correlation imaging to achieve an aggregate acceleration factor in excess of the number of coil elements in the phase encoding direction is also demonstrated.