Artificial intelligence solution to accelerate the acquisition of MRI images: Impact on the therapeutic care in oncology in radiology and radiotherapy departments

Abstract

PurposeMRI is essential in the management of brain tumours. However, long waiting times reduce patient accessibility. Reducing acquisition time could improve access but at the cost of spatial resolution and diagnostic quality. A commercially available artificial intelligence (AI) solution, SubtleMR™, can increase the resolution of acquired images. The objective of this prospective study was to evaluate the impact of this algorithm that halves the acquisition time on the detectability of brain lesions in radiology and radiotherapy. Material and methodsThe T1/T2 MRI of 33 patients with brain metastases or meningiomas were analysed. Images acquired quickly have a matrix divided by two which halves the acquisition time. The visual quality and lesion detectability of the AI images were evaluated by radiologists and radiation oncologist as well as pixel intensity and lesions size. ResultsThe subjective quality of the image is lower for the AI images compared to the reference images. However, the analysis of lesion detectability shows a specificity of 1 and a sensitivity of 0.92 and 0.77 for radiology and radiotherapy respectively. Undetected lesions on the IA image are lesions with a diameter less than 4mm and statistically low average gadolinium-enhancement contrast. ConclusionIt is possible to reduce MRI acquisition times by half using the commercial algorithm to restore the characteristics of the image and obtain good specificity and sensitivity for lesions with a diameter greater than 4mm.