Non-rigid registration and KLT filter to improve SNR and CNR in GRE-EPI myocardial perfusion imaging

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of motion compensation by non-rigid registration combined with the Karhunen-Loeve Transform (KLT) filter on the signal to noise (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of hybrid gradient-echo echoplanar (GRE-EPI) first-pass myocardial perfusion imaging. Twenty one consecutive first-pass adenosine stress perfusion MR data sets interpreted positive for ischemia or infarction were processed by non-rigid Registration followed by KLT filtering. SNR and CNR were measured in abnormal and normal myocardium in unfiltered and KLT filtered images following non-rigid registration to compensate for respiratory and other motions. Image artifacts introduced by filtering in registered and nonregistered images were evaluated by two observers. There was a statistically significant increase in both SNR and CNR between normal and abnormal myocardium with KLT filtering (mean SNR increased by 62.18% ± 21.05% and mean CNR increased by 58.84% ± 18.06%; p = 0.01). Motion correction prior to KLT filtering reduced significantly the occurrence of filter induced artifacts (KLT only-artifacts in 42 out of 55 image series vs. registered plus KLT-artifacts in 3 out of 55 image series). In conclusion the combination of non- rigid registration and KLT filtering was shown to increase the SNR and CNR of GRE-EPI perfusion images. Subjective evaluation of image artifacts revealed that prior motion compensation significantly reduced the artifacts introduced by the KLT filtering process.