Joint learning of nonlinear representation and projection for fast constrained MRSI reconstruction

Purpose: To develop and evaluate a novel method for computationally efficient reconstruction from noisy MR spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) data. Methods: The proposed method features (a) a novel strategy that jointly learns a nonlinear low-dimensional representation of high-dimensional spectroscopic signals and a neural-network-based projector to recover the low-dimensional embeddings from noisy/limited data; (b) a formulation that integrates the forward encoding model, a regularizer exploiting the learned representation, and a complementary spatial constraint; and (c) a highly efficient algorithm enabled by the learned projector within an alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) framework, circumventing the computationally expensive network inversion subproblem. Results: The proposed method has been evaluated using simulations as well as in vivo (Formula presented.) H and (Formula presented.) P MRSI data, demonstrating improved performance over state-of-the-art methods, with about 6 (Formula presented.) fewer averages needed than standard Fourier reconstruction for similar metabolite estimation variances and up to 100 (Formula presented.) reduction in processing time compared to a prior neural network constrained reconstruction method. Computational and theoretical analyses were performed to offer further insights into the effectiveness of the proposed method. Conclusion: A novel method was developed for fast, high-SNR spatiospectral reconstruction from noisy MRSI data. We expect our method to be useful for enhancing the quality of MRSI or other high-dimensional spatiospectral imaging data.