Low-Rank Tensor Subspace Decomposition With Weighted Group Sparsity for the Acceleration of Non-Cartesian Dynamic MRI

Dynamic MR imaging often requires long scan time, and acceleration of data acquisition is highly desirable in clinical applications.

We proposed a Low-rank Tensor subspace decomposition with Weighted Group Sparsity (LTWGS) algorithm for non-Cartesian dynamic MRI. The proposed algorithm introduces the weighted group sparse constraints together with the subspace decomposition technique into the framework of low-rank tensor and sparse decomposition to better utilize the sparsity in the data.

LTWGS increases the PSNR values by 1.97 dB, 2.03 dB, and 2.83 dB compared with PROST (patch-based reconstruction), SRTPCA (smooth robust tensor principal component analysis), and LRTES (low-rank tensor with "explicit subspace") in the dynamic abdominal imaging at an acceleration rate R = 25. LTWGS increases the PSNR values by 2.42 dB and 3.57 dB compared with PROST and LRTES in DCE liver imaging at R = 25. LTWGS increases the PSNR values by 1.40 dB and 1.96 dB compared with PROST and SRTPCA in cardiac cine imaging at R = 25.

Jointly using group sparsity and sparsity can obtain better results than that using group sparsity alone, and weighted regularization can achieve better results than that without weighted regularization. The proposed algorithm results in reduced reconstruction error and improved image structural similarity in comparison with several state-of-the-art methods at relatively high acceleration factors. The proposed algorithm has the potential in various dynamic MRI application scenarios.