Automated motion estimation for 2-D cine DENSE MRI

Cine displacement encoding with stimulated echoes (DENSE) is a magnetic resonance (MR) method that directly encodes tissue displacement into MR phase images. This technique has successfully interrogated many forms of tissue motion, but is most commonly used to evaluate cardiac mechanics. Currently, motion analysis from cine DENSE images requires manually delineated anatomical structures. An automated analysis would improve measurement throughput, simplify data interpretation, and potentially access important physiological information during the MR exam. In this paper, we present the first fully automated solution for the estimation of tissue motion and strain from 2-D cine DENSE data. Results using both simulated and human cardiac cine DENSE data indicate good agreement between the automated algorithm and the standard semi-manual analysis method.