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Studying Brain Function in Children Using Magnetoencephalography
Published on: April 8, 2019
Evaluation of motion and its effect on brain magnetic resonance image quality in children
Onur Afacan1, Burak Erem2, Diona P Roby2
1Department of Radiology, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Ave., WB215, Boston, MA, 02115, USA. onur.afacan@childrens.harvard.edu.
Background:
Motion artifacts pose significant problems for the acquisition of MR images in pediatric populations.
Objective:
To evaluate temporal motion metrics in MRI scanners and their effect on image quality in pediatric populations in neuroimaging studies.
Materials And Methods:
We report results from a large pediatric brain imaging study that shows the effect of motion on MRI quality. We measured motion metrics in 82 pediatric patients, mean age 13.4 years, in a T1-weighted brain MRI scan. As a result of technical difficulties, 5 scans were not included in the subsequent analyses. A radiologist graded the images using a 4-point scale ranging from clinically non-diagnostic because of motion artifacts to no motion artifacts. We used these grades to correlate motion parameters such as maximum motion, mean displacement from a reference point, and motion-free time with image quality.
Results:
Our results show that both motion-free time (as a ratio of total scan time) and average displacement from a position at a fixed time (when the center of k-space was acquired) were highly correlated with image quality, whereas maximum displacement was not as good a predictor. Among the 77 patients whose motion was measured successfully, 17 had average displacements of greater than 0.5 mm, and 11 of those (14.3%) resulted in non-diagnostic images. Similarly, 14 patients (18.2%) had less than 90% motion-free time, which also resulted in non-diagnostic images.
Conclusion:
We report results from a large pediatric study to show how children and young adults move in the MRI scanner and the effect that this motion has on image quality. The results will help the motion-correction community in better understanding motion patterns in pediatric populations and how these patterns affect MR image quality.
Insights
Motion in pediatric MRI scans significantly impacts image quality. Motion-free time and average displacement are key predictors of diagnostic quality in brain imaging for children and young adults.
Area of Science:
- Medical Imaging
- Pediatric Neuroimaging
- Radiology
Background:
- Motion artifacts are a major challenge in pediatric MRI acquisition.
- Ensuring high-quality neuroimaging in young patients is critical for accurate diagnosis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess temporal motion metrics in MRI scanners.
- To determine the impact of motion on image quality in pediatric neuroimaging.
Main Methods:
- Evaluated motion in 82 pediatric patients undergoing T1-weighted brain MRI.
- Correlated radiologist-graded image quality with motion parameters (motion-free time, average/maximum displacement).
Main Results:
- Motion-free time and average displacement strongly correlated with image quality.
- 14.3% of scans with average displacement >0.5 mm were non-diagnostic.
- 18.2% of scans with <90% motion-free time were non-diagnostic.
Conclusions:
- Children's movement in MRI scanners directly affects neuroimaging quality.
- Findings aid the motion-correction community in understanding pediatric motion patterns and their impact.
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