Accelerating low-distortion diffusion MRI of the head and neck with transfer learning from a different organ, acquisition and scanner

Motivation: Propeller and multi shot EPI sequences offer DWI head and neck images with reduced distortions, but suffer from longer scanning time and reduced SNR. Goal(s): Shorten the scan time while improving SNR and without impacting ADC values. Approach: Apply transfer learning to retrain denoising deep learning algorithm pretrained on different anatomy and vendor scanner, and using limited amount of data. Results: Retraining has improved quantitative metrics, resulting in higher quality denoised images using a limited dataset of 5 cases. Impact: Offsett extra time needed by distortion-reducing protocols to enhance the efficiency of MRI for cancer applications.