Dual-domain convolutional neural networks for improving structural information in 3 T MRI

Abstract

We propose a novel dual-domain convolutional neural network framework to improve structural information of routine 3 T images. We introduce a parameter-efficient butterfly network that involves two complementary domains: a spatial domain and a frequency domain. The butterfly network allows the interaction of these two domains in learning the complex mapping from 3 T to 7 T images. We verified the efficacy of the dual-domain strategy and butterfly network using 3 T and 7 T image pairs. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed framework generates synthetic 7 T-like images and achieves performance superior to state-of-the-art methods.

Keywords: Convolutional neural network; Deep learning; Image super-resolution; Image synthesis; Magnetic resonance imaging.