Total variation–based method for generation of intravoxel incoherent motion parametric images in MRI

Purpose: Total variation (TV) method has been used widely for image restoration and reconstruction. In this work, we propose a TV-based algorithm for parametric image generation in intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI). Methods: We used simulated and real data to investigate whether the proposed TV-based method can provide reliable parametric images. Parametric images of IVIM parameters including perfusion fraction (PF), diffusion coefficient (D), and pseudo-diffusion coefficient (D*) were estimated using DW-MRI data and TV through fitting the IVIM model. The Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) method, which has often been used in the context of IVIM analysis, was employed as the standard method for comparison of the resulting parametric images. Results: The simulation results show that the proposed method outperforms the LM algorithm in terms of precision, providing a 40–81%, 90–93%, and 68–84% improvement for PF, D and D*, respectively, at signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 30. For real data, the proposed method showed an average five-fold, three-fold, and four-fold improvement in the SNR for PF, D and D*, respectively. Conclusion: We introduced the use of TV to produce parametric images, and demonstrated that the proposed TV-based method is effective in improving the parametric image quality. Magn Reson Med 78:1383–1391, 2017.