MRISIMUL · ENHANCED MRI PHYSICS SIMULATOR

We propose the design and development of an enhanced comprehensive computer simulation platform of MRI physics, which will integrate realistic aspects of the MRI experiment (such as motion and strain) from signal generation up to and including image reconstruction for the explicit purposes of 1) better understanding the mechanisms involved in artifact and contrast generation in cardiovascular MRI and 2) effectively teaching MRI physics to non-technical personnel. This comprehensive computer simulation of MRI physics and image reconstruction will allow us to better understand realistic artifact generating mechanisms in cardiovascular MRI and will help in defining exam protocols that are optimized for suppressing such artifacts without resorting to animal and/or human experimentation. This research will allow for detailed evaluation of cardiovascular pulse sequences and protocols such as Phase Contrast (PC) velocity mapping, myocardial tagging and Displacement Encoding with Stimulated Echoes (DENSE). With the design and development of the proposed simulator platform, the parameter space of different protocols will be tested and evaluated in detail without the time constraint imposed by experimentation in an MRI scanner. The simulations will be designed and developed with a variant of a four-vector formalism. A deforming model of the heart will be implemented as part of the simulator to allow visualization and analysis of imaging techniques that map myocardial motion and strain. Last, the simulation will allow for noise injection, respiratory motion modeling and multi-coil signal acquisition. We will apply this tool to allow researchers, technologists, physicians and students to visualize the effects of motion and/or strain, on tissue contrast, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) in models of acute myocardial infarction. This will allow for further research in optimizing MRI protocols and also for training of non-technical personnel.