Taohui Xiao, Cheng Li, Shoujun Yu, Wenxin Fan, Ruoyou Wu, Enqing Dong, Shanshan Wang
Extensive experiments on the Human Connectome Project (HCP), Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), and Tiantan clinical dataset demonstrate consistent improvements over six state-of-the-art methods under multiple q-space subsampling settings. The proposed framework supports 4.5×-27× q-space acceleration while achieving 3×-9× faster inference. Additional experiments further support the robustness and cross-dataset adaptability of the proposed framework.
OBJECTIVE: This study aims to develop an efficient and high-fidelity deep learning framework for accelerated multi-model diffusion MRI microstructure estimation using sparsely sampled q-space data.
METHOD: We propose a shared-encoder, distinct-decoder framework. A dual-branch architecture within the shared encoder integrates convolutional neural network (CNN)-based spatial modeling for local tissue structures and Mamba-based sequence modeling for global structural priors. The fused features form a shared latent representation that regularizes the highly subsampled estimation process. Distinct decoders extract model-specific features from this latent space, enabling diverse parameter estimation across biophysical models. A joint estimation loss with tunable weights balances the multi-model learning objectives.
RESULTS: Extensive experiments on the Human Connectome Project (HCP), Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), and Tiantan clinical dataset demonstrate consistent improvements over six state-of-the-art methods under multiple q-space subsampling settings. The proposed framework supports 4.5×-27× q-space acceleration while achieving 3×-9× faster inference. Additional experiments further support the robustness and cross-dataset adaptability of the proposed framework.
CONCLUSION AND SIGNIFICANCE: The proposed framework enables accurate and reliable joint estimation of multi-model dMRI microstructural parameters from accelerated acquisitions and provides a practical solution for fast microstructural imaging.