Optimization of Pulsed Saturation Transfer MR Fingerprinting (ST MRF) Acquisition Using the Cramer-Rao Bound and Sequential Quadratic Programming.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

To develop a method for optimizing pulsed saturation transfer MR fingerprinting (ST MRF) acquisition.

Methods

The Cramér-Rao bound (CRB) for variance assessment was employed on Bloch-McConnell-based simulated signals, followed by a numerical sequential quadratic programming optimization and basin-hopping avoidance of local minima. Validation was performed using L-arginine phantoms and healthy human volunteers at 3T while restricting the scan time to be less than 40 s.

Results

The proposed optimization approach resulted in a significantly improved agreement with reference standard values in vivo, compared to baseline non-optimized protocols (8% lower NRMSE, 7% higher SSIM, and 15% higher Pearson's r value, p<0.001$$ p<0.001 $$ ).

Conclusion

The combinati

SUBMITTER: Vladimirov N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12746367 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature