An image processing strategy for the quantification and visualization of exercise-induced muscle MRI signal enhancement

Exercise increases the skeletal muscle water signal in T2-weighted images. Potential medical applications of MR studies of exercise-induced muscle signal intensity changes are the assessment of myopathies, sport training regimens, and physical therapy approaches following surgeries. We developed an automated image processing technique that provides volumetric analysis and visualization of exercise-related T2-weighted image intensity changes. The image processing was applied to the segmentation and quantification of activated muscle volumes. Qualitative assessment of muscle activation is demonstrated with three-dimensional surface rendering. Quantitative determination of active muscle volume, signal intensity, and change over time is demonstrated. Visualization of the activated muscles allows functional anatomical assessment of exercise, which in turn allows detection of muscle utilization.