Evaluation of temporal and spatial characteristics of 2D HYPR processing using simulations.

Highly constrained back-projection (HYPR) is a data acquisition and reconstruction method that provides very rapid frame update rates and very high spatial resolution for a time series of images while maintaining a good signal-to-noise ratio and high image quality. In this study we used simulations to evaluate the temporal and spatial characteristics of images produced using the HYPR algorithm. The simulations demonstrate that spatial accuracy is well maintained in the images and the temporal changes in signal intensity are represented with high fidelity. The waveforms representing signal intensity as a function of time obtained from regions-of-interest placed in simulated objects track the true curves very well, with variations from the truth occurring only when objects with very different temporal behavior are very close to each other. However, even when objects with different temporal characteristics are touching, their influences on each other are small.