High Resolution Multi-delay Arterial Spin Labeling with Transformer based Denoising for Pediatric Perfusion MRI

Multi-delay arterial spin labeling (MDASL) can quantitatively measure cerebral blood flow (CBF) and arterial transit time (ATT), which is particularly suitable for pediatric perfusion imaging. Here we present a high resolution (iso-2mm) MDASL protocol and performed test-retest scans on 21 typically developing children aged 8 to 17 years. We further proposed a Transformer-based deep learning (DL) model with k-space weighted image average (KWIA) denoised images as reference for training the model. The performance of the model was evaluated by the SNR of perfusion images, as well as the SNR, bias and repeatability of the fitted CBF and ATT maps. The proposed method was compared to several benchmark methods including KWIA, joint denoising and reconstruction with total generalized variation (TGV) regularization, as well as directly applying a pretrained Transformer model on a larger dataset. The results show that the proposed Transformer model with KWIA reference can effectively denoise multi-delay ASL images, not only improving the SNR for perfusion images of each delay, but also improving the SNR for the fitted CBF and ATT maps. The proposed method also improved test-retest repeatability of whole-brain perfusion measurements. This may facilitate the use of MDASL in neurodevelopmental studies to characterize typical and aberrant brain development.