4D MRI: Robust sorting of free breathing MRI slices for use in interventional settings

Transfer-learning is a key ingredient to fast deep learning-based 4D liver MRI reconstruction

Time-resolved volumetric magnetic resonance imaging (4D MRI) could be used to address organ motion in image-guided interventions like tumor ablation. Current 4D reconstruction techniques are unsuitable for most interventional settings because they are limited to specific breathing phases, lack temporal/spatial resolution, and have long prior acquisitions or reconstruction times. Deep learning-based (DL) 4D MRI approaches promise to overcome these shortcomings but are sensitive to domain shift. This work shows that transfer learning (TL) combined with an ensembling strategy can help alleviate this key challenge. We evaluate four approaches: pre-trained models from the source domain, models directly trained from scratch on target domain data, models fine-tuned from a pre-trained model and an ensemble of fine-tuned models. For that the data base was split into 16 source and 4 target domain subjects. Comparing ensemble of fine-tuned models (N = 10) with directly learned models, we report significant improvements (P < 0.001) of the root mean squared error (RMSE) of up to 12% and the mean displacement (MDISP) of up to 17.5%. The smaller the target domain data amount, the larger the effect. This shows that TL + Ens significantly reduces beforehand acquisition time and improves reconstruction quality, rendering it a key component in making 4D MRI clinically feasible for the first time in the context of 4D organ motion models of the liver and beyond.

Predicting 4D liver MRI for MR-guided interventions

Organ motion poses an unresolved challenge in image-guided interventions like radiation therapy, biopsies or tumor ablation. In the pursuit of solving this problem, the research field of time-resolved volumetric magnetic resonance imaging (4D MRI) has evolved. However, current techniques are unsuitable for most interventional settings because they lack sufficient temporal and/or spatial resolution or have long acquisition times. In this work, we propose a novel approach for real-time, high-resolution 4D MRI with large fields of view for MR-guided interventions. To this end, we propose a network-agnostic, end-to-end trainable, deep learning formulation that enables the prediction of a 4D liver MRI with respiratory states from a live 2D navigator MRI. Our method can be used in two ways: First, it can reconstruct high quality fast (near real-time) 4D MRI with high resolution (209×128×128 matrix size with isotropic 1.8mm voxel size and 0.6s/volume) given a dynamic interventional 2D navigator slice for guidance during an intervention. Second, it can be used for retrospective 4D reconstruction with a temporal resolution of below 0.2s/volume for motion analysis and use in radiation therapy. We report a mean target registration error (TRE) of 1.19±0.74mm, which is below voxel size. We compare our results with a state-of-the-art retrospective 4D MRI reconstruction. Visual evaluation shows comparable quality. We compare different network architectures within our formulation. We show that small training sizes with short acquisition times down to 2 min can already achieve promising results and 24 min are sufficient for high quality results. Because our method can be readily combined with earlier time reducing methods, acquisition time can be further decreased while also limiting quality loss. We show that an end-to-end, deep learning formulation is highly promising for 4D MRI reconstruction.

Real UAV-Bird Image Classification Using CNN with a Synthetic Dataset

A large amount of training image data is required for solving image classification problems using deep learning (DL) networks. In this study, we aimed to train DL networks with synthetic images generated by using a game engine and determine the effects of the networks on performance when solving real-image classification problems. The study presents the results of using corner detection and nearest three-point selection (CDNTS) layers to classify bird and rotary-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (RW-UAV) images, provides a comprehensive comparison of two different experimental setups, and emphasizes the significant improvements in the performance in deep learning-based networks due to the inclusion of a CDNTS layer. Experiment 1 corresponds to training the commonly used deep learning-based networks with synthetic data and an image classification test on real data. Experiment 2 corresponds to training the CDNTS layer and commonly used deep learning-based networks with synthetic data and an image classification test on real data. In experiment 1, the best area under the curve (AUC) value for the image classification test accuracy was measured as 72%. In experiment 2, using the CDNTS layer, the AUC value for the image classification test accuracy was measured as 88.9%. A total of 432 different combinations of trainings were investigated in the experimental setups. The experiments were trained with various DL networks using four different optimizers by considering all combinations of batch size, learning rate, and dropout hyperparameters. The test accuracy AUC values for networks in experiment 1 ranged from 55% to 74%, whereas the test accuracy AUC values in experiment 2 networks with a CDNTS layer ranged from 76% to 89.9%. It was observed that the CDNTS layer has considerable effects on the image classification accuracy performance of deep learning-based networks. AUC, F-score, and test accuracy measures were used to validate the success of the networks.