DarkSPARC: Novel Method for Self-Calibrated Spectral Formation of Left Atrial Dark-Blood from Bright-Blood LGE MRI

Motivation: Current bright-blood LGE MRI of the left atrium are suboptimal with low contrast between scar and surrounding blood. Dark-blood images can boost contrast but requires separate acquisition and largely unsuccessful in the left atrium due to technical challenges. Goal(s): We propose a novel self-calibrated method called DarkSPARC designed to generate left atrial dark-blood LGE images retrospectively from standard bright-blood LGE acquisitions. Approach: DarkSPARC enhances imaging quality by reencoding intensity into a calibrated spectral space, separating image details into spectral bins defined by the calibrator. Results: The proposed method showed 13-fold increase in CNR and 2-fold increase in SNR. Impact: DarkSPARC's has the potential to improve LGE image quality while eliminating the need for separate dark-blood acquisitions, reducing scan time and patient discomfort. It may have potential applications beyond atrial imaging, for vessel wall imaging.