Motion-robust sub-millimeter isotropic diffusion imaging through motion corrected generalized slice dithered enhanced...

Area of Science:

• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
• Diffusion MRI (dMRI)
• Image Reconstruction

Background:

• Subject motion is a significant challenge in high-resolution dMRI, causing artifacts and blurring.
• Existing techniques may struggle with large in-plane and through-plane motion during prolonged scans.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an efficient MR technique for ultra-high resolution dMRI robust to motion.
• Introduce Motion Corrected gSlider (MC-gSlider) for high-quality, high-resolution dMRI acquisition.

Main Methods:

• Developed MC-gSlider, integrating motion-aware reconstruction with spatially adaptive regularization.
• Implemented intra-volume motion estimation and correction for high temporal resolution.
• Utilized theoretical analysis, simulations, and in vivo experiments for validation.

Main Results:

• MC-gSlider demonstrated efficiency in mitigating motion artifacts and blurring.
• Successfully recovered detailed brain structures at 860 μm isotropic resolution.
• Validated performance across various ranges of in-plane and through-plane motion.

Conclusions:

• MC-gSlider provides motion-robust, high-resolution dMRI.
• Achieved temporal motion correction sensitivity of 2 seconds.
• Enables recovery of fine brain structures despite substantial subject movement.