# A Densely Interconnected Network for Deep Learning Accelerated MRI

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2207.02073 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2207.02073/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 30 of its 55 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 5 Jul 2022.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 30)

- [Deep Residual Learning for Image Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1512.03385/) (2015)
- [Adam: A Method for Stochastic Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1412.6980/) (2014)
- [PyTorch: An Imperative Style, High-Performance Deep Learning Library](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.01703/) (2019)
- [U-Net: Convolutional Networks for Biomedical Image Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1505.04597/) (2015)
- [Densely Connected Convolutional Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1608.06993/) (2016)
- [Squeeze-and-Excitation Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1709.01507/) (2017)
- [Gaussian Error Linear Units (GELUs)](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1606.08415/) (2016)
- [Aggregated Residual Transformations for Deep Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1611.05431/) (2016)
- [CBAM: Convolutional Block Attention Module](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1807.06521/) (2018)
- [Attention U-Net: Learning Where to Look for the Pancreas](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1804.03999/) (2018)
- [Instance Normalization: The Missing Ingredient for Fast Stylization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1607.08022/) (2016)
- [Sigmoid-Weighted Linear Units for Neural Network Function Approximation in Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1702.03118/) (2017)
- [On the Convergence of Adam and Beyond](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.09237/) (2019)
- [fastMRI: An Open Dataset and Benchmarks for Accelerated MRI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1811.08839/) (2018)
- [Learning a Variational Network for Reconstruction of Accelerated MRI Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1704.00447/) (2017)
- [A Deep Cascade of Convolutional Neural Networks for Dynamic MR Image Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1704.02422/) (2017)
- [End-to-End Variational Networks for Accelerated MRI Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.06688/) (2020)
- [ResViT: Residual vision transformers for multi-modal medical image synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.16031/) (2021)
- [U-Net and its variants for medical image segmentation: theory and applications](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.01118/) (2020)
- [Convolutional Recurrent Neural Networks for Dynamic MR Image Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1712.01751/) (2017)
- [Deep learning for undersampled MRI reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1709.02576/) (2017)
- [Unsupervised MRI Reconstruction via Zero-Shot Learned Adversarial Transformers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.08059/) (2021)
- [Advancing machine learning for MR image reconstruction with an open competition: Overview of the 2019 fastMRI challenge](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2001.02518/) (2020)
- [Deep Residual Learning for Accelerated MRI using Magnitude and Phase Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1804.00432/) (2018)
- [A Transfer-Learning Approach for Accelerated MRI using Deep Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1710.02615/) (2017)
- [Training Deeper Convolutional Networks with Deep Supervision](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1505.02496/) (2015)
- [VS-Net: Variable splitting network for accelerated parallel MRI reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.10033/) (2019)
- [fastMRI+: Clinical Pathology Annotations for Knee and Brain Fully Sampled Multi-Coil MRI Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.03812/) (2021)
- [An Adaptive Intelligence Algorithm for Undersampled Knee MRI Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.07339/) (2020)
- [DC-WCNN: A deep cascade of wavelet based convolutional neural networks for MR Image Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2001.02397/) (2020)

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [Multi-branch Cascaded Swin Transformers with Attention to k-space Sampling Pattern for Accelerated MRI Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2207.08412/) (2022)
- [Deep Learning-based Intraoperative MRI Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.12771/) (2024)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Objective: To improve accelerated MRI reconstruction through a densely connected cascading deep learning reconstruction framework. Materials and Methods: A cascading deep learning reconstruction framework (baseline model) was modified by applying three architectural modifications: Input-level dense connections between cascade inputs and outputs, an improved deep learning sub-network, and long-range skip-connections between subsequent deep learning networks. An ablation study was performed, where five model configurations were trained on the NYU fastMRI neuro dataset with an end-to-end scheme conjunct on four- and eight-fold acceleration. The trained models were evaluated by comparing their respective structural similarity index measure (SSIM), normalized mean square error (NMSE) and peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR). Results: The proposed densely interconnected residual cascading network (DIRCN), utilizing all three suggested modifications, achieved a SSIM improvement of 8% and 11% for four- and eight-fold acceleration, respectively. For eight-fold acceleration, the model achieved a 23% decrease in the NMSE when compared to the baseline model. In an ablation study, the individual architectural modifications all contributed to this improvement, by reducing the SSIM and NMSE with approximately 3% and 5% for four-fold acceleration, respectively. Conclusion: The proposed architectural modifications allow for simple adjustments on an already existing cascading framework to further improve the resulting reconstructions.