Non-local means noise filtering (NLMF) improves Hyperpolarized ~(13)C-pyruvate imaging PSNR compared to linear minimum mean square error (LLMSE)

摘要

Hyperpolarized ~(13)C-pyruvate imaging is a fast developing metabolic imaging modality with the property to measure metabolic conversion rates from the main tracer ~(13)C-pyruvate to downstream metabolites (13C-lactate, 13C-alanine, 13Cbicarbonate) [1]. Although hyperpolarized MR increases the signalto- noise-ratio significantly (SNR), the SNR is still low for most metabolic derivatives and thus denoising is essential for improving quality and reliability of the low SNR regime images [2].