Experiments in multiresolution motion estimation for multifrequency tagged cardiac MR images

Stephanos Androutsellis-Theotokis, Jerry L. Prince

Abstract: In tagged magnetic resonance imaging of the human heart, different frequency patterns can be imposed and imaged as the heart moves. It is advantageous to use low-frequency patterns to improve both image acquisition time and the performance of gradient-based optical flow motion analysis methods. This paper explores the effects of three factors-image prefiltering, multiresolution optical flow, and multifrequency tag patterns through a serious of controlled simulation experiments. We show that use of image prefiltering in a multiresolution optical flow approach achieves significant performance gains, and permits a factor of four reduction in imaging time, without the need for multifrequency tag patterns.