Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Purpose
Despite the great potential and flexibility of 4D flow MRI for hemodynamic analysis, a major limitation is the need for time-consuming and user-dependent post-processing. We propose a fast four-step algorithm for rapid, robust, and repeatable flow measurements in the great vessels based on automatic placement of measurement planes and vessel segmentation.Methods
Our algorithm works by (1) subsampling the 3D image into 3D patches, (2) predicting the probability of each patch containing individual vessels and location/orientation of the vessel within the patch via a convolutional neural network, (3) selecting the predicted planes with highest probabilities for each vessel, and (4) shifting the plane centers to the maximum velocity within each plane. The method was trained on 283 scans and evaluated on 40 unseen scans by comparing algorithm-derived processing times, plane locations, and flow measurements to those of two manual observers (graduate students) using t-tests, Pearson correlation, and Bland-Altman analysis.Results
The average processing time for the algorithm (18 s) was shorter than observer 1 (362 s; P < 0.001) and observer 2 (317 s; P < 0.001). The distance between planes placed by the algorithm and those placed by manual observers was slightly greater (O1 vs. algorithm: 9.0 mm, O2 vs. algorithm: 10.3 mm) than the distance between planes placed by the two manual observers (8.3 mm). The correlation between flow values for planes placed by the algorithm and those placed by manual observers was slightly lower (O1 vs. algorithm: R = 0.68, O2 vs. algorithm: R = 0.72) than the flow correlation between the two manual observers (R = 0.81).Conclusion
Our method is a feasible and accurate approach for fast, reproducible, and automated flow measurement and visualization in 4D flow MRI of the great vessels, with similar variability compared to a manual annotator as the variability between two manual observers. This approach could be applied in other anatomical regions.
SUBMITTER: Corrado PA
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8851604 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Corrado Philip A PA Seiter Daniel P DP Wieben Oliver O
International journal of computer assisted radiology and surgery 20210817 1
<h4>Purpose</h4>Despite the great potential and flexibility of 4D flow MRI for hemodynamic analysis, a major limitation is the need for time-consuming and user-dependent post-processing. We propose a fast four-step algorithm for rapid, robust, and repeatable flow measurements in the great vessels based on automatic placement of measurement planes and vessel segmentation.<h4>Methods</h4>Our algorithm works by (1) subsampling the 3D image into 3D patches, (2) predicting the probability of each pat ...[more]