Purpose: The aim of the 2016 quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) reconstruction challenge was to test the ability of various QSM algorithms to recover the underlying susceptibility from phase data faithfully. Methods: Gradient-echo images of a healthy volunteer acquired at 3T in a single orientation with 1.06 mm isotropic resolution. A reference susceptibility map was provided, which was computed using the susceptibility tensor imaging algorithm on data acquired at 12 head orientations. Susceptibility maps calculated from the single orientation data were compared against the reference susceptibility map. Deviations were quantified using the following metrics: root mean squared error (RMSE), structure similarity index (SSIM), highfrequency error norm (HFEN), and the error in selected white and gray matter regions. Results: Twenty-seven submissions were evaluated. Most of the best scoring approaches estimated the spatial frequency content in the ill-conditioned domain of the dipole kernel using compressed sensing strategies. The top 10 maps in each category had similar error metrics but substantially different visual appearance. Conclusion: Because QSM algorithms were optimized to minimize error metrics, the resulting susceptibility maps suffered from over-smoothing and conspicuity loss in fine features such as vessels. As such, the challenge highlighted the need for better numerical image quality criteria.

Quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) is a novel MRI technique for measuring tissue magnetic susceptibility in 3D. While there are numerous algorithms developed to solve this ill-posed inverse problem, estimating susceptibility maps with a wide range of values is still problematic. In cases such as large veins, contrast agent uptake, and intracranial hemorrhages, extreme susceptibility values in focal areas cause severe streaking artifacts. To enable the reduction of these artifacts while preserving subtle susceptibility contrast, a two-level QSM reconstruction algorithm (STAR-QSM) was developed in this study by tuning a regularization parameter to automatically reconstruct both large and small susceptibility values. Compared to current state-of-the-art QSM methods such as iLSQR, STAR-QSM significantly reduced streaking artifacts while preserving sharp boundaries for blood vessels of mouse brains in vivo and fine anatomical details of high resolution mouse brains ex vivo. Brain image data from patients with cerebral hematoma and multiple sclerosis further illustrated the superiority of this method in reducing streaking artifacts caused by large susceptibility sources while maintaining sharp anatomical details. STAR-QSM is implemented in STI Suite, a comprehensive shareware for susceptibility imaging and quantification.

Purpose To evaluate the magnetic susceptibility properties of different anatomical structures within the knee joint using quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM). Methods A collagen tissue model was simulated and ex vivo animal cartilage experiments were conducted at 9.4 T to evaluate the B0 orientation-dependent magnetic susceptibility contrast observed in cartilage. Furthermore, nine volunteers (six healthy subjects without knee pain history and three patients with known knee injury, age between 29 and 58 years) were scanned using gradient-echo acquisitions on a high-field (7 T) magnetic resonance (MR) scanner. Susceptibility values of different tissues were quantified and diseased cartilage and meniscus were compared against that of healthy volunteers. Results Simulation and ex vivo animal cartilage experiments demonstrated that collagen fibrils exhibit an anisotropic susceptibility. A gradual change of magnetic susceptibility was observed in the articular cartilage from the superficial zone to the deep zone, forming a multilayer ultra-structure consistent with anisotropy of collagen fibrils. Meniscal tears caused a clear reduction of susceptibility contrast between the injured meniscus and surrounding cartilage illustrated by a loss of the sharp boundaries between the two. Moreover, QSM showed more dramatic contrast in the focal degenerated articular cartilage than R2* mapping. Conclusion The arrangement of the collagen fibrils is a significant and likely the most dominant source of magnetic susceptibility anisotropy. QSM offers a means to characterize magnetic susceptibility properties of tissues in the knee joint. QSM is sensitive to collagen damage or degeneration and may be useful for evaluating the status of knee diseases, such as meniscal tears and cartilage disease.

Longitudinal brain atlases play an important role in the study of human brain development and cognition. Existing atlases are mainly based on anatomical features derived from T1-and T2-weighted MRI. A 4D developmental quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) atlas may facilitate the estimation of age-related iron changes in deep gray matter nuclei and myelin changes in white matter. To this end, group-wise co-registered QSM templates were generated over various age intervals from age 1-83 years old. Registration was achieved by combining both T1-weighted and QSM images. Based on the proposed template, we created an accurate deep gray matter nuclei parcellation map (DGM map). Notably, we segmented thalamus into 5 sub-regions, i.e. the anterior nuclei, the median nuclei, the lateral nuclei, the pulvinar and the internal medullary lamina. Furthermore, we built a "whole brain QSM parcellation map" by combining existing cortical parcellation and white-matter atlases with the proposed DGM map. Based on the proposed QSM atlas, the segmentation accuracy of iron-rich nuclei using QSM is significantly improved, especially for children and adolescent subjects. The age-related progression of magnetic susceptibility in each of the deep gray matter nuclei, the hippocampus, and the amygdala was estimated. Our automated atlas-based analysis provided a systematic confirmation of previous findings on susceptibility progression with age resulting from manual ROI drawings in deep gray matter nuclei. The susceptibility development in the hippocampus and the amygdala follow an iron accumulation model; while in the thalamus sub-regions, the susceptibility development exhibits a variety of trends. It is envisioned that the newly developed 4D QSM atlas will serve as a template for studying brain iron deposition and myelination/demyelination in both normal aging and various brain diseases.