Fat and iron quantification using a multi-step adaptive fitting approach with multi-echo magnetic resonance imaging

1. A computer-implemented method for quantifying fat and iron in anatomical tissue, the method comprising:

acquiring a plurality of multi-echo signal datasets representative of the anatomical tissue using a magnetic resonance (MR) pulse sequence;

selecting two multi-echo signal datasets from the plurality of multi-echo signal datasets;

determining a first water magnitude value and a first fat magnitude value using the selected two multi-echo signal datasets; and

in response to determining that the multi-echo signal datasets include at least three multi-echo datasets, performing a first stage analysis comprising:

selecting a first effective transverse relaxation rate value,

creating first algorithm inputs comprising the first water magnitude value, the first fat magnitude value, and the first effective transverse relaxation rate value,

performing a non-linear fitting algorithm based on the first algorithm inputs to calculate a second water magnitude value, a second fat magnitude value, and a second effective transverse relaxation rate value, and

determining a first proton density fat fraction value based on the second water magnitude value and the second fat magnitude value.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the first water magnitude value and the first fat magnitude value using the selected two multi-echo signal datasets comprises:

applying a dual-echo flexible-echo time estimation to the selected two multi-echo signal data sets.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the first water magnitude value and the first fat magnitude value using the selected two multi-echo signal datasets comprises:

applying multi-echo estimation to the selected two multi-echo signal datasets.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to determining that the multi-echo signal datasets include at least four multi-echo datasets, performing a second stage analysis comprising:

determining an initial guess for a third water magnitude value and an initial guess for a third fat magnitude value,

determining an initial guess for a water transverse relaxation rate value based on an effective transverse relaxation rate value,

determining an initial guess for a fat transverse relaxation rate value based on the effective transverse relaxation rate value,

creating second algorithm inputs comprising the initial guess for the third water magnitude value, the initial guess for the third fat magnitude value, the initial guess for the water transverse relaxation rate value, and the initial guess for the fat transverse relaxation rate value,

performing the non-linear fitting algorithm based on the second algorithm inputs to calculate the third water magnitude value, the third fat magnitude value, the water transverse relaxation rate value, and the fat transverse relaxation rate value, and

determining a second proton density fat fraction value based on the third water magnitude value and the third fat magnitude value.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein determining the initial guess for the third water magnitude value and the initial guess for the third fat magnitude value comprises:

in response to determining that the first proton density fat fraction value is less than a first predetermined constant,

setting the initial guess for the third water magnitude value to the second water magnitude value, and

setting the initial guess for the third fat magnitude value to zero.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein determining the initial guess for the third water magnitude value and the initial guess for the third fat magnitude value further comprises:

in response to determining that the first proton density fat fraction value is greater than a second predetermined constant,

setting the initial guess for the third fat magnitude value to the second fat magnitude value, and

setting the initial guess for the third water magnitude value to zero.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein determining the initial guess for the third water magnitude value and the initial guess for the third fat magnitude value further comprises:

in response to determining that the first proton density fat fraction value is greater than the first predetermined constant and less than the second predetermined constant,

setting the initial guess for the third water magnitude value to the second water magnitude value, and

setting the initial guess for the third fat magnitude value to the second fat magnitude value.

8. A computer-implemented method for quantifying fat and iron in a portion of patient anatomy, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of multi-echo signal datasets acquired in response to a multi-echo pulse sequence being applied to the portion of patient anatomy;

selecting two multi-echo signal datasets from the plurality of multi-echo signal datasets;

determining a first water magnitude value and a first fat magnitude value using the selected two multi-echo signal datasets;

determining a second water magnitude value, a second fat magnitude value, and a second effective transverse relaxation rate value across the plurality of multi-echo signal datasets based on the first water magnitude value and the first fat magnitude value;

determining a third water magnitude value, a third fat magnitude value, a water transverse relaxation rate value, and a fat transverse relaxation rate value across the plurality of multi-echo signal datasets based on the second water magnitude value, the second fat magnitude value, and the second effective transverse relaxation rate value; and

calculating a proton density fat fraction value based on the third water magnitude value and the third fat magnitude value.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

determining an iron deposition value based on at least one of the water transverse relaxation rate value and the fat transverse relaxation rate value.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

presenting the proton density fat fraction value and the iron deposition value in a graphical user interface.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein determining the first water magnitude value and the first fat magnitude value using the selected two multi-echo signal datasets comprises:

applying a dual-echo flexible-echo time estimation to the selected two multi-echo signal data sets.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein determining the second water magnitude value, the second fat magnitude value, and the second effective transverse relaxation rate value across the plurality of multi-echo signal datasets based on the first water magnitude value and the first fat magnitude value comprises:

performing a non-linear fitting algorithm to calculate the second water magnitude value, the second fat magnitude value, and the second effective transverse relaxation rate value.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the non-linear fitting algorithm comprises a damped least-squares method.

14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

calculating an initial proton density fat fraction value based on the second water magnitude value and the second fat magnitude value.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein determining the third water magnitude value, the third fat magnitude value, the water transverse relaxation rate value, and the fat transverse relaxation rate value across the plurality of multi-echo signal datasets based on the second water magnitude value, the second fat magnitude value, and the second effective transverse relaxation rate value comprises:

in response to determining that the initial proton density fat fraction value is less than a first predetermined constant,

setting an initial guess for the third water magnitude value to the second water magnitude value, and

setting an initial guess for the third fat magnitude value to zero.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein determining the third water magnitude value, the third fat magnitude value, the water transverse relaxation rate value, and the fat transverse relaxation rate value across the plurality of multi-echo signal datasets based on the second water magnitude value, the second fat magnitude value, and the second effective transverse relaxation rate value further comprises:

in response to determining that the initial proton density fat fraction value is greater than a second predetermined constant,

setting an initial guess for the third fat magnitude value to the second fat magnitude value, and

setting an initial guess for the third water magnitude value to zero.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein determining the third water magnitude value, the third fat magnitude value, the water transverse relaxation rate value, and the fat transverse relaxation rate value across the plurality of multi-echo signal datasets based on the second water magnitude value, the second fat magnitude value, and the second effective transverse relaxation rate value further comprises:

in response to determining that the initial proton density fat fraction value is greater than the first predetermined constant and less than the second predetermined constant,

setting an initial guess for the third water magnitude value to the second water magnitude value, and

setting an initial guess for the third fat magnitude value to the second fat magnitude value.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein determining the third water magnitude value, the third fat magnitude value, the water transverse relaxation rate value, and the fat transverse relaxation rate value across the plurality of multi-echo signal datasets based on the second water magnitude value, the second fat magnitude value, and the second effective transverse relaxation rate value further comprises:

performing the non-linear fitting algorithm to calculate the third water magnitude value, the third fat magnitude value, the water transverse relaxation rate value, and the fat transverse relaxation rate value based at least in part on the initial guess for the third water magnitude value, the initial guess for the third fat magnitude value.

19. A system for quantifying fat and iron in anatomical tissue, the system comprising:

an input processor configured to acquire a plurality of MR image representative multi-echo signal datasets of the anatomical tissue acquired using a pulse sequence type; and

an image data processor configured to perform an adaptive and progressive multi-step quantification process, the process comprising:

determining, at a first step, an initial water magnitude value, an initial fat magnitude value, and one or more initial transverse relaxation rate values,

performing one or more subsequent steps, each subsequent step utilizing one or more values determined a prior step in the multi-step quantification process to determine an updated water magnitude value, an updated fat magnitude value, and one or more updated transverse relaxation rate values, and

calculating a proton density fat fraction value based on a final water magnitude value and a final fat magnitude value generated during a final subsequent step included in the one or more subsequent steps.

20. The system of claim 19 , further comprising:

a graphical user interface configured to present at least one of a fat transverse relaxation map generated based on the final fat magnitude value, a water transverse relaxation map generated based on the final water magnitude value, or a fat fraction map determined based on the proton density fat fraction value.