Impact of Emerging Deep Learning-Based MR Image Reconstruction Algorithms on Abdominal MRI Radiomic Features

This study aims to evaluate, on one MRI vendor's platform, the impact of deep learning (DL)-based reconstruction techniques on MRI radiomic features compared to conventional image reconstruction techniques.

Under IRB approval and informed consent, we prospectively collected undersampled coronal T2-weighted MR images of the abdomen (1.5 T; Philips Healthcare) from 17 pediatric and adult subjects and reconstructed them using a conventional image reconstruction technique (compressed sensitivity encoding [C-SENSE]) and two DL-based reconstruction techniques (SmartSpeed [Philips Healthcare, US FDA cleared] and SmartSpeed with Super Resolution [SmartSpeed-SuperRes, not US FDA cleared to date]). Eight regions of interest (ROIs) across organs/tissues (liver, spleen, kidney, pancreas, fat, and muscle) were manually placed. Eighty-six MRI radiomic features were then extracted. Pearson's correlation coefficients (PCCs) and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were calculated between (A) C-SENSE versus SmartSpeed, and (B) C-SENSE versus SmartSpeed-SuperRes. To quantify the impact from the perspective of the whole MR image, cross-ROI mean PCCs and ICCs were calculated for individual radiomic features. The impact of image reconstruction on individual radiomic features in different organs/tissues was evaluated using ANOVA analyses.

According to cross-ROI mean PCCs, 50 out of 86 radiomic features were highly correlated (PCC, ≥0.8) between SmartSpeed and C-SENSE, whereas only 15 radiomic features were highly correlated between SmartSpeed-SuperRes and C-SENSE reconstructions. According to cross-ROI mean ICCs, 58 out of 86 radiomic features had high agreements (ICC ≥0.75) between SmartSpeed and C-SENSE, whereas only 9 radiomic features had high agreements between SmartSpeed-SuperRes and C-SENSE reconstructions. For SmartSpeed reconstruction, the psoas muscle ROI appeared to be impacted most with the lowest median (IQR) correlation of 0.57 (0.25). The circular liver ROI was impacted most by SmartSpeed-SuperRes (PCC, 0.60 [0.22]). ANOVA analyses suggest that the impact of DL reconstruction algorithms on radiomic features varies significantly among different organs/tissues ( P < 0.001).

MRI radiomic features are significantly altered by DL-based reconstruction compared to a conventional reconstruction technique. The impact of DL reconstruction algorithms on radiomic features varies significantly between different organs/tissues.