Multi-task magnetic resonance imaging reconstruction using meta-learning

Abstract

Using single-task deep learning methods to reconstruct Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) data acquired with different imaging sequences is inherently challenging. The trained deep learning model typically lacks generalizability, and the dissimilarity among image datasets with different types of contrast leads to suboptimal learning performance.

This paper proposes a meta-learning approach to efficiently learn image features from multiple MRI datasets. Our algorithm can perform multi-task learning to simultaneously reconstruct MRI images acquired using different imaging sequences with various image contrasts. We have developed a proximal gradient descent-inspired optimization method to learn image features across image and k-space domains, ensuring high-performance learning for every image contrast. Meanwhile, meta-learning, a “learning-to-learn” process, is incorporated into our framework to improve the learning of mutual features embedded in multiple image contrasts.

The experimental results reveal that our proposed multi-task meta-learning approach surpasses state-of-the-art single-task learning methods at high acceleration rates. Our meta-learning consistently delivers accurate and detailed reconstructions, achieves the lowest pixel-wise errors, and significantly enhances qualitative performance across all tested acceleration rates.

We have demonstrated the ability of our new meta-learning reconstruction method to successfully reconstruct highly-undersampled k-space data from multiple MRI datasets simultaneously, outperforming other compelling reconstruction methods previously developed for single-task learning.