Open-Source Framework for the Visualization, Quantification, and Analysis of 4D Flow and High-Dimensional Magnetic Resonance Images
Abstract
Background: Four-dimensional (4D) flow cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) captures 3D anatomy and blood velocity across the cardiac cycle, but current post-processing software is closed, varies across platforms, and sits outside open-source image-computing frameworks. We developed an open-source framework for the import, visualization, and quantification of 4D flow and other high-dimensional CMR within SlicerHeart, an extension for 3D Slicer. Methods: Import 4D Flow reads vendor DICOM, applies preprocessing, and stores velocities as a time-resolved vector field; Analyze 4D Flow provides measurement planes, streamline and Doppler-like visualization, segmentation propagation, and quantification. Underlying both, we extended the Insight Toolkit to store five- and higher-dimensional arrays. Flow quantification was compared with a commercial package (cvi42) and 2D phase contrast in 13 patients with congenital heart disease across 108 paired regions of interest (Bland-Altman analysis and intraclass correlation coefficients, ICCs). Consensus-recommended processing methods were also implemented as an open-source library with an automated test suite of analytic and CFD phantoms and clinical acquisitions. Results: The modules integrate with 3D Slicer's segmentation, registration, and rendering tools and export velocity fields and geometry for computational modeling. Agreement with cvi42 was close: forward volume bias -0.1 mL (95% limits of agreement 2.2 to -2.3; ICC 0.997), effective volume per minute bias -0.015 L/min (0.21 to -0.24; ICC 0.994). Against 2D phase contrast, forward volume bias (-2.2 mL) and mean absolute percentage error (21.8%) matched cvi42 (-2.1 mL; 21.3%). Conclusions: This open, extensible framework brings 4D flow CMR into an established image-computing ecosystem and agrees closely with a commercial reference; every step can be inspected, reproduced, and improved.
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BibTeX
@misc{lasso2026opensource,
title = {{Open-Source Framework for the Visualization, Quantification, and Analysis of 4D Flow and High-Dimensional Magnetic Resonance Images}},
author = {Andras Lasso and Julia Iacovell and Csaba Pinter and Kevin K. Whitehead and Sehdev Pressley and Danish Vaiyani and Matthew Daemer and Katherine Hurm and Analise M. Sulentic and Christian Herz and Ryan T. Black and Seda Aslan and Christopher W. Roy and Mark A. Fogel and Jing Huang and Matthew A. Jolley},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.38948},
eprint = {2610.38948},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.38948},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Open-Source Framework for the Visualization, Quantification, and Analysis of 4D Flow and High-Dimensional Magnetic Resonance Images
AU - Andras Lasso
AU - Julia Iacovell
AU - Csaba Pinter
AU - Kevin K. Whitehead
AU - Sehdev Pressley
AU - Danish Vaiyani
AU - Matthew Daemer
AU - Katherine Hurm
AU - Analise M. Sulentic
AU - Christian Herz
AU - Ryan T. Black
AU - Seda Aslan
AU - Christopher W. Roy
AU - Mark A. Fogel
AU - Jing Huang
AU - Matthew A. Jolley
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/28
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.38948
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.38948
AB - Background: Four-dimensional (4D) flow cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) captures 3D anatomy and blood velocity across the cardiac cycle, but current post-processing software is closed, varies across platforms, and sits outside open-source image-computing frameworks. We developed an open-source framework for the import, visualization, and quantification of 4D flow and other high-dimensional CMR within SlicerHeart, an extension for 3D Slicer. Methods: Import 4D Flow reads vendor DICOM, applies preprocessing, and stores velocities as a time-resolved vector field; Analyze 4D Flow provides measurement planes, streamline and Doppler-like visualization, segmentation propagation, and quantification. Underlying both, we extended the Insight Toolkit to store five- and higher-dimensional arrays. Flow quantification was compared with a commercial package (cvi42) and 2D phase contrast in 13 patients with congenital heart disease across 108 paired regions of interest (Bland-Altman analysis and intraclass correlation coefficients, ICCs). Consensus-recommended processing methods were also implemented as an open-source library with an automated test suite of analytic and CFD phantoms and clinical acquisitions. Results: The modules integrate with 3D Slicer's segmentation, registration, and rendering tools and export velocity fields and geometry for computational modeling. Agreement with cvi42 was close: forward volume bias -0.1 mL (95% limits of agreement 2.2 to -2.3; ICC 0.997), effective volume per minute bias -0.015 L/min (0.21 to -0.24; ICC 0.994). Against 2D phase contrast, forward volume bias (-2.2 mL) and mean absolute percentage error (21.8%) matched cvi42 (-2.1 mL; 21.3%). Conclusions: This open, extensible framework brings 4D flow CMR into an established image-computing ecosystem and agrees closely with a commercial reference; every step can be inspected, reproduced, and improved.
SN - 2331-8422
ER -