The first MR Electrical Properties Tomography (MR-EPT) reconstruction challenge: preliminary results of simulated data

Motivation: To benchmark MR-Electrical Properties Tomography (MR-EPT) reconstruction methods. Goal(s): To present an overview of the first MR-EPT reconstruction challenge participation and the results of its phase 1. Approach: The challenge consisted of 3 phases:1) reconstructions from a simulated (blind) dataset (ground-truth EPs not provided);2) reconstructions from several simulated dataset (ground-truth EPs provided for few training dataset for tuning algorithm parameters);3) EPs reconstructions from measured data. Results: 52 participants registered to the challenge; 39 submitted their results. For phase 1, all participants submitted a reconstructed conductivity map; 12 submitted a reconstructed permittivity map. The results show large variability in reconstruction accuracy and precision. Impact: The results of phase 1 of the first MR-EPT reconstruction challenge show large variations in the estimated conductivity and permittivity maps demonstrating the need of benchmarking reconstruction methods on common datasets.