Maximum Likelihood Estimation of Rician Distribution Parameters

— The problem of parameter estimation from Rician distributed data (e.g., magnitude Magnetic Resonance images) is addressed. The properties of conventional estimation methods are discussed and compared to Maximum Likelihood estimation which is known to yield optimal results asymptotically. In contrast to previously proposed methods, Maximum Likelihood estimation is demonstrated to be unbiased for high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and to yield physical relevant results for low SNR.

• Type: Journal
• Year: 1998
• Where: TMI
• Authors: Jan Sijbers, Arnold Jan den Dekker, Paul Scheunders, Dirk Van Dyck
• Keywords: Conventional Estimation Methods, Maximum Likelihood Estimation, Parameter Estimation, TMI 1998