Mengze Gao

All Publications

• A Dynamic Shim Approach for Correcting Eddy Current Effects in Diffusion-Prepared MRI Acquisition Using a Multi-Coil AC/DC Shim-Array. Magnetic resonance in medicine Liao, C., Stockmann, J. P., Li, Z., Wang, Z., Gao, M., Craven-Brightman, L., Sliwiak, M., Biggs, C., Glad, J. A., Zhou, J., Qian, Y., Zhong, Z., Wang, N., Wu, H., Grafendorfer, T., Robb, F., Gruber, B., Mareyam, A., Kerr, A. B., Cao, X., Setsompop, K. 2026

  Abstract

  We developed a dynamic B0 shimming approach using a 46-channel AC/DC shim array to correct phase errors caused by eddy currents from diffusion-encoding gradients in diffusion-prepared MRI, enabling high b value imaging without the SNR loss from the use of a magnitude stabilizer.A 46-channel AC/DC shim array and corresponding amplifier system were built. Spin echo prescans with and without diffusion preparation were then used to rapidly measure eddy current-induced phase differences. These phase maps were used as targets in an optimization framework to compute compensatory shim currents for multi-shot 3D diffusion-prepared acquisitions.The proposed method allows flexible use of the AC/DC shim array to correct undesirable eddy current effects in diffusion-prepared MRI. Phantom and in vivo experiments demonstrate whole-brain, cardiac-gated, multi-shot 3D diffusion-prepared imaging without the use of magnitude stabilizers. The approach enables preservation of full SNR while achieving reliable diffusion encoding at b values up to 2000 s/mm2.This work demonstrates a new strategy for applying an AC/DC shim array to compensate for eddy current-induced phase errors in diffusion-prepared MRI. By eliminating the need for a magnitude stabilizer, it enables efficient high-quality diffusion imaging with full signal sensitivity retained.

  View details for DOI 10.1002/mrm.70294

  View details for PubMedID 41668342

• Physics-Informed Implicit Neural Representations for Joint B0 Estimation and Echo Planar Imaging Huang, W., Wang, N., Liao, C., Line, Y., Gao, M., Rueckert, D., Setsompop, K. edited by Gee, J. C., Alexander, D. C., Hong, J., Iglesias, J. E., Sudre, C. H., Venkataraman, A., Golland, P., Kim, J. H., Park, J. SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG. 2026: 481-490

  View details for DOI 10.1007/978-3-032-04947-6_46

  View details for Web of Science ID 001596377700046

• In Vivo Meso-Scale Whole-Brain Quantitative Imaging With Tailored MRF on the NexGen 7T Scanner. Magnetic resonance in medicine Cao, X., Beckett, A., Liao, C., Walker, E., Zhu, Z., Qian, Y., Gao, M., Wang, N., Lin, Y., Gong, L., McCready, M. A., Wang, Z., Li, Z., Vu, A., Ma, S., Ramos-Llordén, G., Tian, Q., Kerr, A., Yang, Y., Feinberg, D. A., Setsompop, K. 2025

  Abstract

  To push the speed and resolution limit of in vivo quantitative imaging and enable estimation of quantitative tissue parameters of subtle brain structures that were previously difficult to assess.This study implemented an efficient quantitative imaging approach, 3D-SPI MRF, on the NexGen 7T scanner equipped with a high-performance head-only gradient and 96-channel receiver array. To address challenges associated with performing rapid mesoscale MRF on this system, acquisition and reconstruction mitigation methods were developed and incorporated into the MRF framework, including: (i) flip-angle-aware dictionary fitting to account for both B1 + inhomogeneity and voxel-specific RF frequency response, (ii) gradient imperfection corrections via Skope measurements that incorporates a new per-TR trajectory rewinder compensation, (iii) incorporation of rapid B1 + and B0 mappings into the MRF sequence, and (iv) high-temporal motion navigation.Whole-brain T1 and T2 maps were obtained at 560-μm isotropic resolution within 4 min, where ablation studies demonstrated the necessity of the various mitigation methods implemented in removing bias and artifacts. For comparison, MRF data were acquired using current state-of-the-art method but limited to typical whole-body gradient specifications to demonstrate that the proposed developments resulted in ∼3× shorter scan time while producing more accurate parameter maps. Data were also acquired at ∼3.8× smaller voxel size, 360-μm isotropic, using the developed technique, to achieve mesoscale multi-parameter quantitative mapping in vivo.Tailored 3D MRF acquisition and reconstruction were developed to enable fast and accurate T1 and T2 mapping across the whole-brain at mesoscale resolution on the NexGen 7T scanner.

  View details for DOI 10.1002/mrm.70234

  View details for PubMedID 41472402

• ENHANCING DIFFUSION-WEIGHTED IMAGES (DWI) FOR DIFFUSION MRI: IS IT ENOUGH WITHOUT NON-DIFFUSION-WEIGHTED B=0 REFERENCE? Wu, Y., Huang, J., Wang, F., Gao, M., Liao, C., Yang, G., Setsompop, K., IEEE IEEE. 2025

  View details for DOI 10.1109/ISBI60581.2025.10980956

  View details for Web of Science ID 001546451000283

• Spherical echo-planar time-resolved imaging (sEPTI) for rapid 3D quantitative T 2 * and susceptibility imaging. Magnetic resonance in medicine Wang, N., Liao, C., Cao, X., Nishimura, M., Brackenier, Y. W., Yurt, M., Gao, M., Abraham, D., Alkan, C., Iyer, S. S., Zhou, Z., Jeong, H., Kerr, A., Haldar, J. P., Setsompop, K. 2024

  Abstract

  To develop a 3D spherical EPTI (sEPTI) acquisition and a comprehensive reconstruction pipeline for rapid high-quality whole-brain submillimeter T 2 * $$ {\mathrm{T}}_2^{\ast } $$ and QSM quantification.For the sEPTI acquisition, spherical k-space coverage is utilized with variable echo-spacing and maximum kx ramp-sampling to improve efficiency and signal incoherency compared to existing EPTI approaches. For reconstruction, an iterative rank-shrinking B0 estimation and odd-even high-order phase correction algorithms were incorporated into the reconstruction to better mitigate artifacts from field imperfections. A physics-informed unrolled network was utilized to boost the SNR, where 1-mm and 0.75-mm isotropic whole-brain imaging were performed in 45 and 90 s at 3 T, respectively. These protocols were validated through simulations, phantom, and in vivo experiments. Ten healthy subjects were recruited to provide sufficient data for the unrolled network. The entire pipeline was validated on additional five healthy subjects where different EPTI sampling approaches were compared. Two additional pediatric patients with epilepsy were recruited to demonstrate the generalizability of the unrolled reconstruction.sEPTI achieved 1.4 × $$ \times $$ faster imaging with improved image quality and quantitative map precision compared to existing EPTI approaches. The B0 update and the phase correction provide improved reconstruction performance with lower artifacts. The unrolled network boosted the SNR, achieving high-quality T 2 * $$ {\mathrm{T}}_2^{\ast } $$ and QSM quantification with single average data. High-quality reconstruction was also obtained in the pediatric patients using this network.sEPTI achieved whole-brain distortion-free multi-echo imaging and T 2 * $$ {\mathrm{T}}_2^{\ast } $$ and QSM quantification at 0.75 mm in 90 s which has the potential to be useful for wide clinical applications.

  View details for DOI 10.1002/mrm.30255

  View details for PubMedID 39250435