Correcting magnetic resonance k-space data for in-plane motion using an optical position tracking system

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Biophysics

Background:

• Motion during Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) acquisition is a significant source of image artifacts, degrading diagnostic quality.
• Retrospective correction methods are crucial for enhancing the utility of MRI data, especially in situations where prospective motion correction is challenging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a novel method for retrospectively correcting motion-induced artifacts in MRI.
• To address the impact of rotations and translations on k-space data acquired during MRI scans.

Main Methods:

• Utilized two MRI-compatible infrared cameras to record motion data during phantom experiments.
• Employed recorded motion data to correct the position and phase of k-space samples.
• Achieved high temporal resolution (60 Hz) and spatial accuracy (0.1 mm translations, 0.2° rotations) in motion data acquisition.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated significant improvements in MRI image quality after applying the motion correction technique.
• Validated the effectiveness of the method in phantom studies with controlled translational and rotational motion.

Conclusions:

• The presented technique offers an easily implementable solution for correcting motion artifacts in MRI.
• This method corrects distortions within a single slice, potentially outperforming slice-by-slice registration approaches.
• The technique does not interfere with the standard MRI data acquisition workflow.